Departmental Accounts

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether Ministers in his Department have issued written instructions to override his Department's accounting officer's objections since 1997.

Charlotte Atkins: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 14 March 2005, Official Report, column 80W, by my hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what targets he sets the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency for responding to correspondence; whether the time taken is measured from the date when a letter is (a) received and (b) opened; and what steps he is taking to improve turn-around times.

David Jamieson: We have not set the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) a correspondence response target. However, the Agency has been asked continuously to maintain or improve the levels of customer satisfaction. To achieve this DVLA eight working days from the date of opening.

Heathrow

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what arrangements have been made to ensure the openness and transparency of the workings of Project Heathrow, with particular reference to the dissemination of information on this initiative to (a) residents of communities living near Heathrow and (b) their elected representatives.

Charlotte Atkins: We are keen to ensure that the Project for the Sustainable Development of Heathrow (Project Heathrow) is taken forward in an open and transparent manner, and to communicate information about the project to local communities and their representatives. The Heathrow Airport Consultative Committee, whose membership includes locally elected representatives, receives regular updates from DfT officials and BAA. Local authorities are represented on Project Heathrow's air quality technical panels. Information about the project has been on the Department's website www.dft.gov.uk/aviation/projectheathrow since last summer and we endeavour to keep this up-to-date as the project progresses. In addition, Ministers and officials have meetings from time-to-time with a variety of interested parties. I am currently seeking to arrange a further such meeting with relevant Members of Parliament.
	For their part, BAA Heathrow have been working to ensure that the local community is well informed about Project Heathrow. BAA's work has included updating the Heathrow Local Focus Forum on progress and meeting with local action groups to discuss issues connected with the project. BAA has also published the leaflet "One Year On—How BAA airports are delivering the Future of Air Transport White Paper" which is available from the company's website www.baa.com.

Heathrow

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what process would need to be pursued (a) to amend and (b) to delete the environmental mitigation measures on airport operations at Heathrow under the Cranford Agreement.

Charlotte Atkins: Any proposals to amend or abandon the existing noise amelioration operations at Heathrow under the Cranford Agreement, would need to be subject to a full environmental appraisal, public consultation and ministerial approval. Any agreed changes would then need to be reflected in operational instructions in the NATS Manual for Air Traffic Services.

Private Car Parks

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency is allowed to pass on details it holds on individuals to operators of privately-owned and operated car parks.

David Jamieson: holding answer 15 March 2005
	Regulations provide for the release of vehicle keeper details from the register maintained by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to applicant who can demonstrate 'reasonable cause' for their request. Legal advice is that the enforcement of parking restrictions on private property meets the 'reasonable cause' criterion. If information were not released in these circumstances, landlords would have great difficulty in enforcing their rights to their property. The Information Commissioner is aware that personal data is used in this way and he has issued advice that is available on his website.

Road Accidents/Deaths

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he plans to publish the number of road accidents in (a) Essex and (b) Southend in 2004.

David Jamieson: The Department for Transport will report accident and casualty figures for Essex and the unitary authority Southend on Sea in "Road Casualties Great Britain: 2004", which is due for publication in September 2005.

Road Accidents/Deaths

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps the Government are taking in support of the policy of the European Union to halve the number of road deaths across the EU between 2002 and 2010.

David Jamieson: We continue to develop and implement our wide-ranging road safety strategy. The provisional 2004 third quarter casualty figures show we are now over halfway towards our 2010 target of a 40 per cent. reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured, and over three-quarters towards our 50 per cent. target for children.
	The first review of the road safety strategy identified that, while we are making good progress toward meeting our overall casualty reduction targets, the number of fatal casualties has levelled off. This is a complex issue, affecting other European countries, which like us have a good record on road safety, and it is receiving in-depth analysis and special focus as we develop the strategy further.

Speed Cameras/Humps

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport in how many traffic calming schemes introduced in England since 1998 speed humps have been constructed and later withdrawn or modified, broken down by local authority.

David Jamieson: Local authorities have the power to introduce or modify traffic calming schemes without approval from the Department. As such there are no central records which contain this information.

Transport (Hampshire)

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the Highways Agency expenditure was in Hampshire in each of the last five years; and how much was spent on (a) new road schemes and (b) road maintenance.

David Jamieson: holding answer 15 March 2005
	No major new road schemes have been carried out by the Highways Agency in Hampshire in the last five years.
	Delivery of the Highways Agency's road maintenance programme and smaller improvement schemes is carried out through a number of Area-based managing agents. The Area that includes Hampshire also includes other counties and it is not possible to identify how much has been spent in Hampshire alone.

Income Tax

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the estimated yield arising from levying income tax at a rate of 50 per cent. on all taxable incomes in excess of £50,000 per annum would be; and how many taxpayers would be affected.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 8 February 2005, Official Report, column 1405W and 1410W.

Productivity

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what indicators his Department uses to assess the productivity performance of the United Kingdom.

John Healey: The Government uses two headline measures in its assessment of the UK's productivity performance: HM Treasury estimates of underlying productivity growth in the UK over the economic cycle; and ONS International Comparisons of Productivity estimates.
	These headline measures are supported by a set of intermediate indicators to highlight how the UK is performing relative to its major competitors on key dimensions of the drivers of productivity.
	Details can be found in the technical note accompanying the Treasury's PSA target on productivity; "in Productivity in the UK 5: Benchmarking UK productivity performance: A consultation on productivity indicators 1 "; and "Benchmarking UK productivity performance: The Government's response to the consultation on productivity indicators 2 ";.
	1 http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/EFF/68/iulytechnicalno te 300704.pdf
	2 http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/consultations and legislation/productivity indicators/consult productivity indicators index.cfm

Tax Relief (Over-65s)

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what powers he has to provide tax relief to the over-65s on savings and earnings for those earning between £18,900 and £23,070.

Stephen Timms: Those over 65 are entitled to more generous personal allowances than those aged below 65, while those over 75 have a greater entitlement still.
	In 2004 the personal allowances for all those aged 65 and over were increased in line with earnings by a provision in the Finance Act. The Chancellor announced his intention at last December's PBR of introducing a similar increase to the personal allowance for all those aged 65 and over in this year's Finance Bill.
	This over-rides the automatic increase which is made in line with prices for all personal allowances. The higher allowances for those aged 65 and over are reduced where their income is above a certain level. This level, £18,900 for 2004–05, is also increased automatically in line with prices.
	In common with everyone else, those over 65 can withdraw funds from any ISAs they have tax free. Consequently, this does not affect their entitlement to age-related personal allowances.

VAT (Electronic Publishing)

Charles Hendry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been raised through VAT on electronically published materials in each of the past 10 years.

Dawn Primarolo: VAT revenue figures are published by HM Customs and Excise in the VAT factsheet, copy of which is available in the Library of the House and from Customs' website: http://www.uktradeinfo.com
	HM Customs and Excise do not collect data on VAT from individual goods and services.

Fallen Stock

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the collection of fallen stock.

Ben Bradshaw: The National Fallen Stock Scheme has been operating for just over three months and already has 25,000 members. While acknowledging there have been teething problems with collection of fallen stock in some parts of the country, the National Fallen Stock Company reports that it is pleased with the response and that the Scheme is generally working well.

Fisheries

John MacDougall: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures she is taking to protect fish stocks in UK waters.

Ben Bradshaw: There are a range of policies in European Union and UK legislation to protect fish stocks. The Government will shortly be publishing a response to the "Net Benefits" report which made a wide ranging series of recommendations to secure sustainable fisheries in the waters around the UK.

Fish Quotas

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of estimated biomass of the 10 most landed fish species under North Sea Total Allowable Catches were landed by vessels from each EU member state in the last period for which figures are available; and what proportion of each catch was made up of recognised market valuable species.

Ben Bradshaw: The most recent available information for the most landed North Sea species (on the basis of Total Allowable Catches for 2005) is shown in table 1 as follows:
	
		Table 1
		
			 Rank Species TAC 2005 in thousand tonnes Proportion of biomass taken in 2003 
		
		
			 1 Sandeel 660 0.23 
			 2 Herring 535 0.21 
			 3 Sprat 257 (9)— 
			 4 Saithe (10)145 0.23 
			 5 Blue Whiting 122 0.42 
			 6 Haddock 66 (11)0.46 
			 7 Plaice 59 0.49 
			 8 Horse Mackerel 43 (9)— 
			 9 Whiting 28 (12)0.23 
			 10 Cod 27 (11)0.55 
		
	
	(9) No data
	(10) Including the Baltic
	(11) Estimates include discards
	(12) Estimate from 2002
	The proportion of the TAC taken by individual countries for these species is shown in table 2.
	
		Table 2
		
			  Sandeel Herring Sprat Saithe Blue Whiting Haddock Plaice Horse Mackerel Whiting Cod 
		
		
			 UK 0.02 0.25 0.04 0.17 0.02 0.78 0.28 0.10 0.53 0.47 
			 Denmark 0.94 0.28 0.91 0.09 0.98 0.07 0.20 0.68 0.13 0.20 
			 Germany — 0.18 0.01 0.22 — 0.05 0.06 0.05 0.03 0.13 
			 Netherlands — 0.20 0.01 — — — 0.38 0.11 0.08 0.12 
			 France — 0.07 0.01 0.51 — 0.08 — — 0.20 0.04 
			 Belgium — — — — — 0.01 0.06 — — — 
			 Sweden — — — 0.01 — — — — — — 
			 Ireland — — — — — — — 0.04 — — 
			 Other 0.04 — — — — — — — — — 
		
	
	Information is not available on what proportion of each catch consists of commercially valuable species.

Flooding

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the number of households in England which are at risk from flooding; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: The most recent estimate of households at risk of flooding is based on data from the Environment Agency's 2004 National Flood Risk Assessment which is also used in the FloodMap available from their website. This identified just under 1.9 million households within the Extreme Flood Outline in England (with more than 0.1 per cent. probability of flooding in any year).
	More than half of these household are in the low probability band (less than 0.5 per cent. probability of flooding in any year) and the majority of the remainder are in the moderate band (less than 1.3 per cent. probability in any year).

Council Tax

John Mann: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what exemptions from council tax apply for narrow boats away from their moorings; and when guidance was last issued on this matter to local authorities.

Nick Raynsford: A mooring occupied by a boat which is somebody's sole or main residence is deemed to be a "dwelling" for council tax purposes and will therefore attract a council tax liability in the same way as other domestic types of property. Under Class R of The Council Tax (Exempt Dwellings) Order 1992 (as amended) a dwelling consisting of a mooring which is not occupied by a boat is exempt. This exemption came into force on the 1 April 1994. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has not issued any guidance on this matter.

Housing

Tim Loughton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) private, (b) public sector key worker, (c) private sector key worker and (d) social housing homes are to be built on each of the redundant NHS sites now controlled by his Department.

Keith Hill: My right hon. Friends the Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Health announced in April 2004 that a portfolio of around 100 surplus NHS sites would be transferred to help deliver the objectives of the sustainable communities plan. It is expected that the first of these sites will transfer to English Partnerships shortly. Many of the sites will be suitable for the provision of affordable homes for sale and will include an element of social housing.
	The future use of each site and development proposals where appropriate will be determined in consultation with the relevant local planning authority as part of the normal planning process.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is continuing to develop a First Time Buyers Initiative as recently announced in our 'Five Year Plan—Sustainable Communities: Homes for All'. We plan to deliver 15,000 homes under the Initiative by 2010, half of which will be for key public service workers and the other half for individuals and families recommended by Regional Housing Boards. Details about where these houses will be built have not yet been announced.

Housing

Oona King: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much Housing Corporation Approved Development Programme and Challenge Fund funding has been spent on (a) mixed funded social rented housing, (b) temporary social rented housing, (c) homebuy general market purchase, (d) homebuy general new build, (e) mixed funded low cost home ownership for sale, (f) miscellaneous works to registered social landlord (RSL) stock, (g) reimprovement to rented RSL stock, (h) works-only rehabilitation of rented RSL stock, (i) works-only rehabilitation of RSL stock for sale, (j) intermediate rented accommodation for key workers, (k) homebuy market purchase for key workers, (l) homebuy new build for key workers, (m) the London Challenge Teacher Market Purchase Homebuy, (n) mixed funded sale for key workers and (o) starter home initiative in London in each year since 1997–98.

Keith Hill: The information requested on funding in London through the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme and Challenge Fund by the various categories listed in each year since 1997–98 is being collated. I will write to my Hon. Friend and make a copy available in the Library of the House.

Local Government Finance (London)

Karen Buck: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the real terms (a) percentage and (b) cash changes in total external support to (i) Westminster city council and (ii) the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea were in each year between 1992–93 and 2005–06.

Nick Raynsford: It is most appropriate to calculate year-on-year changes against the previous year's grant adjusted for changes in funding and function so as to give a like-for-like comparison. However adjusted grant data is only available from 1997–98 onwards. Please note therefore that the data for the period 1992–93 to 1997–98 is on an unadjusted basis while the data for the period 1998–99 onwards is on an adjusted basis.
	
		Unadjusted year-on-year changes
		
			  Westminster Kensington and Chelsea 
			  Change (£ million) Percentage change Change (£ million) Percentage change 
		
		
			 1992–93 41.976 16.1 31.557 21.4 
			 1993–94 -53.574 -17.7 -33.365 -18.6 
			 1994–95 -0.848 -0.3 0.129 0.1 
			 1995–96 1.214 0.5 -4.891 -3.4 
			 1996–97 -12.604 -5.1 -5.245 -3.7 
			 1997–98 -0.897 -0.4 -3.648 -2.7 
		
	
	
		Adjusted year-on-year changes
		
			  Westminster Kensington and Chelsea 
			  Change (£ million) Percentage change Change (£ million) Percentage change 
		
		
			 1998–99 -11.349 -4.9 -3.562 -2.7 
			 1999–2000 1.071 0.5 0.810 0.6 
			 2000–01 0.742 0.3 1.292 1.0 
			 2001–02 1.405 0.6 4.876 3.9 
			 2002–03 7.554 3.5 4.727 3.7 
			 2003–04 1.496 0.7 0.893 0.7 
			 2004–05 4.499 2.0 2.459 1.8 
			 2005–06 6.290 2.7 1.990 1.4

Local Government Pension Scheme

David Stewart: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent representations and meetings he has had with Unison regarding the Local Government Pension Scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: holding answer 16 March 2005
	I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given on 23 February 2005, Official Report, columns 645–46W, to the hon. Member for Chorley (Mr. Hoyle). Further meetings and discussion have taken place since, the last of which was on 10 March. These have been of a constructive nature, looking into the long term issues relating to the Local Government Pension Scheme.

Regional Government

Adrian Flook: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the budget of each Regional Assembly was in each of the last three years; what the administrative costs were in each year; and what the costs were of the other functions co-ordinated by the secretariat of each Assembly in each year.

Nick Raynsford: holding answer 14 March 2005
	Regional Assemblies are voluntary bodies that have been designated to undertake specific functions on behalf of Government. The total level of Government grant in support of these functions for the period 2002–05 is tabled as follows.
	
		
			£ 
			  2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 North East 600,000 1,408,000 1,708,000 
			 North West 600,000 1,837,000 2,536,000 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 600,000 1,655,000 1,923,000 
			 West Midlands 600,000 1,671,000 2,071,000 
			 East Midlands 600,000 1,631,000 2,056,000 
			 East 600,000 1,874,000 2,112,000 
			 South East 600,000 2,186,000 3,280,000 
			 South West 600,000 1,613,000 2,101,000 
			 English Regions Network 200,000 200,000 200,000 
			  5,000,000 14,075,000 17,987,000 
		
	
	Regional Assemblies may also receive funding support from other organisations including local authorities. Details of 'administrative costs' and the cost of 'other functions co-ordinated by the Secretariat of each Assembly' are not kept centrally.

Social Housing

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his statement of 3 March 2005, Official Report, column 358WH, if he will publish the evidence he has received from local authorities indicating that the separation of management and strategic function is delivering better services to tenants in social housing.

Keith Hill: The Government's response to the Select Committee report on Decent Homes set out that the separation of management and strategic functions delivers better services to tenants in social housing. This was based on the findings of the Audit Commission report 'Housing After Transfer: the Local Authority Role', which was published in December 2002.
	In addition, the Government's response drew on the quarterly reviews undertaken by the National Federation of ALMOs (NFA) and HouseMark, which demonstrate the increasing levels of tenant satisfaction where their homes are managed by an Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO).
	Copies of the Government's response, and the Audit Commission report, are available in the Library of the House. The findings of the NFA/HouseMark reviews are available to subscribers of the HouseMark website.

Departmental Policies (Tamworth)

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will set out, with statistical evidence relating as closely as possible to Tamworth constituency, the effects on the constituency of changes to her Department's policies since 1997.

Richard Caborn: The Department's aim is to improve the quality of life for everyone through cultural and sporting activities, to support the pursuit of excellence and to champion the tourism, creative and leisure industries. The Department's policies and actions have had a significant impact on Tamworth since 2 May 1997.
	In 2002 we launched the first ever comprehensive national physical education, school sport and club links strategy with an investment of £459 million. To achieve our challenging targets for increased participation in sport and physical activity, we have invested in thousands of new and refurbished public sports facilities. Sports facilities in Tamworth have benefited from two Sport England Lottery grants totalling £582,152.
	We have increased our national funding to the arts in real terms by 60 per cent. from £199 million in 1998–99 to £367 million in 2004–05. Between 1998–99 and 2003–04 Arts Council England, west midlands grants increased from £5.6 million to £32.5 million. In 2005–06 the total Arts Council England investment in regularly funded organisations will be £35.4 million. Tamworth has benefited from grants to arts projects, organisations and individuals, including Black Country Touring and Arts Alive.
	Schools in Tamworth also benefit from the Staffordshire Youth Music Action Zone, known as Make Some Noise. Since its establishment in 2001 Make Some Noise has received three grants totalling £804,800 enabling it to reach 6,000 young people through local music projects and events.
	Culture Online was launched in 2002 to increase access to, and participation in, arts and culture. Many of its projects are aimed at children of school age and at audiences that might not otherwise participate in arts and culture, including those who do not easily have access to arts and culture, people from deprived communities and people with particular educational or physical needs. People in Tamworth will be among those who benefit from Culture Online. Between 2002 and 2004, £13 million was allocated to fund 20 Culture Online projects.
	Renaissance in the regions has funded the appointment of a museums development officer to support museums in the west midlands regional hub. It has provided £90,000 in 2004–05 for additional museums development support through the museums development fund and the hub's regional development fund to the Marches Curators group of which Staffordshire is a part. This will be increased to £155,000 in 2005–06. Training courses in leadership and conservation have been organised through the hub and a member of Tamworth council's staff has been seconded to Birmingham city council as part of a skills sharing initiative.
	Through our commitment to public service broadcasting we have helped to foster an environment in which a creative, commercially successful broadcasting industry provides a wide range of UK-made, high quality original programmes catering for all viewers and listeners. We have ensured a secure funding base for the BBC and Channel 4, while giving them the freedom to develop commercial operations which complement and support their public service remit The Communications Act 2003 includes provisions to ensure that public service broadcasting will continue to have a key role to play in the digital future.
	In November 2000 we introduced free television licences for people aged 75 or over. Information on the number of beneficiaries by constituency is not available. However, according to Department for Work and Pensions records, the number of households in Tamworth with at least one person aged 75 or over claiming the winter fuel payment in 2003–04 was £3,865.
	We have changed the licensing laws to allow people to hold and attend commercial dances on Sunday, to make it easier for restaurants to open an hour later, and to relax the alcohol licensing hours from 11 p.m on new year's eve to 11 a.m on new year's day in all future years; and we have given the police greater powers to take action against under-age drinking and disorderly and noisy licensed premises. The Licensing Act 2003, when fully implemented, will introduce a streamlined, consistent and fair licensing regime for the provision of alcohol, public entertainment and late night refreshment. It will provide greater choice for consumers, bring regeneration and increased employment opportunities and protect local residents whose lives have been blighted by disturbance and anti-social behaviour.
	The Gambling Bill will, when implemented, transfer responsibility for licensing gambling premises to local authorities. Local people and businesses will be able to make representations about applications for licenses and local authorities will be able to decide not to issue licenses for casino premises. These changes will give local communities, including those in Tamworth, a greater say in the regulation of gambling in their area.
	Tourism in Tamworth has benefited from Government-funded marketing activity. In April 2003 we established VisitBritain with a new domestic marketing remit for England, and we gave strategic responsibility for tourism development to the regional development agencies, including Advantage West Midlands. These changes, together with VisitBritain's successful marketing activities in promoting Britain abroad as an attractive tourist destination, benefit all parts of the country, including Tamworth .
	In common with all those in the United Kingdom, the public library branches in Tamworth are connected to the internet through the People's Network which was funded through a £120 million Lottery grant and which has put all the United Kingdom's public libraries on-line. In addition, the Department is funding the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council with £5 million over three years to implement the Framework for the future action plan and library improvement programme, which is designed to encourage improvement across the public libraries sector in England.
	The Department has been an energetic advocate of the community value of public libraries. In 1998–1999 the DCMS/Wolfson public libraries challenge fund allocated funding to the community learning network partnership in Staffordshire. This award of £49,000 was granted in order to assist the provision of "Open for learning" centres in libraries across Staffordshire to support self-study and distance learning. Tamworth Library was one such Centre and received a proportion of the funding.
	Information from the National Lottery distributors indicates that since 2 May 1997 Tamworth has benefited from 175 awards totalling just over £4.8 million. Of these, 23 awards worth over £800.000 were made by the new opportunities fund which was established by the Government in 1999. The new opportunities fund merged with the community fund in June 2004 to form the Big Lottery Fund.

Gambling Bill (Hospice Lotteries)

Stephen Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to ensure that the provisions contained in the Gambling Bill do not adversely affect weekly lotteries operated by the hospice movement.

Richard Caborn: We have already brought forward amendments to the Bill, following representations by a number of hospice charities which now promote "ticketless lotteries", to ensure that they will not have to change current practice. The Bill approved by the Commons on 25 January incorporates these amendments.

Maldives

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  how much aid has been contributed by the UK Government to relief and reconstruction work in the Maldives since the tsunami disaster;
	(2)  what (a) financial support and (b) transport facilities the UK Government have provided to ship relief supplies to the Maldives following the tsunami disaster;
	(3)  what funds the UK Government have paid to UK-based aid organisations for relief and reconstruction work in the Maldives since the tsunami disaster.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID channelled £2 million through the regional appeal of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which are present and meeting needs in the Maldives, though it is not possible at this stage to say how much of our regional support went to a specific country. Likewise, DFID has committed $40 million to the United Nations Flash Appeal for the region. Part of our Flash Appeal commitment does include support specifically earmarked for the Maldives. £3,305,057 channelled through the World Health Organisation included assistance to the Maldives, as did £4,000,000 channelled through the United Nations Children Fund. £500,000 channelled through the United Nations Development Programme was entirely for activities in the Maldives, to help restore livelihoods, including assistance to households involved in agriculture, tourism, fishing, light manufacturing and other sectors.
	In addition to support to United Nations programmes, DFID also financed a flight for International Health Partners carrying donated drugs from the pharmaceutical industry to the Maldives. This was at a cost of £5,221.
	Other in-kind assistance to the Maldives included a flight chartered by DFID at a cost of £81,000, to deliver water donated by Scottish Water. DFID also airlifted two landing craft and plant machinery, along with training support, at a total cost of £550,000. In addition, DFID seconded a water and sanitation engineer to the United Nations Children Fund for three months to support its work in the Maldives, at a cost of £28,000.

Microbicide Development Programme

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what support he is giving to the Microbicide Development Programme; what support he expects to give to the Programme after 2006; what steps he is taking to encourage other countries to offer similar levels of support; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The UK Government are a strong supporter of microbicide development. From October 2001 to 31 September 2006, DFID is providing a grant of £16 million to the Microbicide Development Programme (MDP) co-ordinated by the Medical Research Councils Clinical Trials Unit and Imperial College. A proposal for a Phase III trial (where Microbicides are tested on women) to be undertaken by MDP is currently being considered.
	Tackling HIV and AIDS will be a priority for the UK G8 and EU presidencies, particularly maintaining momentum on prevention through existing and new technologies.
	We are currently engaged with the EC on the development of its new revised "Programme of Action to Confront HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria through External Action (PfA) 2007–11" which is its framework for tackling AIDS outside the EU. A key aspect of this will be to encourage the EU 's role in development of effective new technologies including Microbicides as part of comprehensive prevention strategies.

Small Grants Scheme

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many organisations benefit from his Department's Small Grants Scheme; and in which countries.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: holding answer 16 March 2005
	The countries in which the Small Grant Scheme has operated over the past five-years are detailed as follows. We do not hold the information centrally on which organisations have benefited from the Small Grants Scheme and this information could be obtained only by incurring a disproportionate cost.
	
		Expenditure on Small Grants Scheme
		
			 £000 
			  1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 Africa  
			 Africa: South of Sahara 5,541 3,931 3,457 3,219 3,357 
			 Angola — 4 — — 52 
			 Botswana 85 80 71 87 128 
			 Burkina Faso 18 — 11 — 30 
			 Burundi 56 31 19 59 83 
			 Cameroon 270 284 224 69 252 
			 Cape Verde 15 13 — — — 
			 Comoros Islands 21 — — — — 
			 Congo, Dem. Rep. 15 38 48 83 112 
			 Cote d'Ivoire 158 102 71 207 150 
			 Djibouti — — — 14 — 
			 Eritrea 270 152 34 126 40 
			 Ethiopia 273 264 152 260 229 
			 Gambia 108 121 436 52 47 
			 Ghana 152 34 17 9 21 
			 Guinea 27 — — — 10 
			 Kenya 135 91 266 146 173 
			 Lesotho 84 130 91 39 46 
			 Liberia 8 — — — — 
			 Madagascar 289 241 203 131 294 
			 Malawi 62 12 67 — — 
			 Mali 15 20 — — — 
			 Mauritania 1 — — — — 
			 Mauritius 44 133 59 16 89 
			 Mozambique 95 187 116 196 129 
			 Namibia 44 55 37 56 1 
			 Niger 4 15 20 — — 
			 Nigeria 693 130 7 15 6 
			 Rwanda 166 264 218 169 210 
			 Sao Tome and Principe 1 — — — — 
			 Senegal 197 207 177 36 23 
			 Seychelles 241 — 23 — — 
			 Sierra Leone 1 25 46 70 83 
			 Somalia 35 10 5 — — 
			 South Africa 558 677 462 423 252 
			 Sudan 107 83 88 221 263 
			 Swaziland 454 85 63 69 105 
			 Tanzania 251 73 8 225 106 
			 Uganda 259 65 111 181 119 
			 Zambia 126 139 139 135 118 
			 Zimbabwe 204 166 168 123 196 
			   
			 Africa: North of Sahara 385 237 20 63 62 
			 Egypt 59 52 20 63 62 
			 Morocco 155 148 — — — 
			 Tunisia 171 37 — — — 
			 Total Africa 5,927 4,168 3,477 3,281 3,419 
			   
			 Asia  
			 Asia: Far East 1,176 1,307 1,018 1,024 1,352 
			 Cambodia 120 120 90 97 95 
			 China 180 124 96 124 113 
			 East Timor — — 45 97 165 
			 Indonesia 86 131 164 199 224 
			 Laos 203 176 111 142 185 
			 Malaysia 2 — — — — 
			 Mongolia 255 230 214 97 192 
			 Philippines 130 340 149 122 263 
			 Thailand 44 43 53 24 45 
			 Vietnam 156 143 96 121 70 
			   
			 Asia: South 1,333 941 584 1,177 975 
			 Afghanistan 40 60 20 130 88 
			 Bangladesh 144 139 27 188 88 
			 Bhutan 11 — — — — 
			 Burma 16 — — — — 
			 India 206 84 211 219 212 
			 Maldives 248 217 66 180 179 
			 Nepal 212 145 79 153 202 
			 Pakistan 210 90 97 141 44 
			 Sri Lanka 248 206 84 165 163 
			   
			 Asia: Central Asian Republics 198 184 105 169 94 
			 Kazakhstan 77 33 24 28 21 
			 Kyrgyzstan 40 54 20 33 30 
			 Tajikistan 7 2 17 30 9 
			 Turkmenistan 26 41 15 43 36 
			 Uzbekistan 48 53 29 36 2 
			   
			 Asia: Middle East 694 455 566 735 382 
			 Jordan 212 165 201 179 83 
			 Lebanon 106 177 65 179 102 
			 Oman 13 — — — — 
			 Syria 75 80 — 89 51 
			 West Bank and Gaza 25 — — — — 
			 Yemen 263 33 301 289 145 
			 Total Asia 3,401 2,887 2,273 3,105 2,803 
			   
			 Europe  
			 Albania 21 45 54 91 63 
			 Armenia 69 30 23 21 37 
			 Azerbaijan 53 10 5 13 48 
			 Belarus 48 51 18 17 16 
			 Bosnia 210 66 228 70 232 
			 Bulgaria 152 131 63 176 157 
			 Croatia 206 82 1 16 17 
			 Czech Republic 235 165 103 126 28 
			 Estonia 75 33 40 77 — 
			 Georgia 34 3 20 5 50 
			 Hungary 126 122 63 94 74 
			 Latvia 86 73 33 60 — 
			 Lithuania 72 4 54 25 19 
			 Macedonia 50 88 61 76 105 
			 Moldova 25 39 2 3 49 
			 Poland 254 246 206 169 3 
			 Romania 248 175 93 232 130 
			 Russian Federation 229 152 134 98 50 
			 Serbia and Montenegro — — 441 348 427 
			 Slovak Republic 182 132 113 201 — 
			 Slovenia 26 77 75 119 35 
			 Ukraine 182 156 215 184 137 
			 Total Europe 2,587 1,881 2,045 2,223 1,677 
			   
			 Americas  
			 Americas: Caribbean 706 507 367 549 285 
			 Anguilla — 1 — — — 
			 Antigua and Barbuda 20 1 18 29 — 
			 Barbados 54 95 38 87 30 
			 Belize 96 56 60 75 72 
			 British Virgin Islands 27 — — — — 
			 Dominica 19 1 — — — 
			 Dominican Republic 108 48 31 49 — 
			 Grenada 19 25 23 — 3 
			 Guyana 52 67 19 115 79 
			 Jamaica 106 95 103 76 77 
			 Montserrat 130 76 70 83 14 
			 St. Lucia 20 5 2 8 7 
			 St. Vincent and Grenadines 24 23 2 25 4 
			 Trinidad and Tobago 30 1 — — — 
			 Turks and Caicos Islands 1 12 — — — 
			   
			 Americas: Central 1,217 1,285 767 770 461 
			 Costa Rica 111 182 114 53 117 
			 Cuba 170 85 49 220 87 
			 El Salvador 135 132 84 67 — 
			 Guatemala 171 141 86 132 116 
			 Haiti 16 18 21 — 17 
			 Honduras 267 251 204 155 76 
			 Mexico 91 248 7 — — 
			 Nicaragua 197 204 191 143 47 
			 Panama 59 24 24 — — 
			   
			 Americas: South 1,946 1,273 905 971 564 
			 Argentine Republic 99 — — — — 
			 Bolivia 281 250 216 165 146 
			 Brazil 276 237 151 176 195 
			 Colombia 249 226 174 166 19 
			 Ecuador 229 235 114 222 117 
			 Paraguay 133 100 59 56 — 
			 Peru 263 189 191 186 87 
			 Uruguay 247 — — — — 
			 Venezuela 168 35 — — — 
			 Total Americas 3,869 3,065 2,039 2,290 1,310 
			   
			 Pacific  
			 Pacific 333 347 226 414 350 
			 Total Pacific 333 347 226 414 350 
			   
			 Total Small Grants Scheme 16,116 12,348 10,060 11,313 9,558

2 Marsham Street

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the expected opening date of the new Home Office buildings in 2 Marsham street is.

Charles Clarke: A date for the official opening of 2 Marsham street has not yet been set. The Home Office took possession of the building on the 26 January 2005. Staff began moving in on 7 February 2005. The occupation of the building will be phased over a period of three months.

Asylum Seekers

Barbara Roche: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Department plans to undertake further research on the situation in the countries of origin of lesbian and gay people making asylum claims.

Des Browne: The country information material produced by the Home Office, for use by officials in the asylum determination process, is compiled from up to date information from a wide range of well recognised sources about the situation in the country of origin.
	These sources include inter-governmental bodies (such as UN agencies), governmental sources (including the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Department for International Development as well as other governments) and human rights organisations (such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and International Crisis Group). Country reports, which are produced biannually on the top 20 asylum intake countries, include a section on the treatment of homosexuals and lesbians, which usually draws upon material produced by organisations focusing on gay issues such as the International Lesbian and Gay Association.
	In addition, case specific research is undertaken as required where additional detailed information is needed to decide an individual asylum or human rights application.
	There are no plans at present to undertake further specific research regarding the treatment of gays and lesbians.

Asylum Seekers

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 10 March 2005, Official Report, column 1959W, how (a) e-Borders and (b) identity cards will enable more precise monitoring of the whereabouts of failed Iranian asylum seekers in the future.

Des Browne: holding answer 16 March 2005
	The five-year Immigration Strategy that we announced on 7 February contained details of our plans through e-Borders to introduce an electronic system of counting in and out visitors to the UK. Automated electronic checks will record people's movements to provide a greatly enhanced passenger movement audit with significantly more reliable inbound and outbound data information than any of the border agencies have been able to obtain in the past.
	The Immigration Service is taking forward a number of projects under the umbrella of the e-Borders programme. Advance passenger information combined with new technology will allow passenger information to be collected on departure from the UK. The departure information will provide vital management and intelligence information, which may then be reconciled against information, held on failed asylum seekers (FAS). A number of other government agencies, such as the Department of Health, Department of work and Pensions and the Inland Revenue have also expressed an interest in the potential benefits of a comprehensive passenger movement record.
	The benefits of introducing a system for reconciling a passenger's departure from the UK against his/her arrival only works with a fully integrated comprehensive system covering all passengers and routes (including air, sea and rail). Such a system is planned as part of the full e-Borders solution. It is not intended to issue Identity cards to failed asylum seekers. However, by reducing the opportunity for failed asylum seekers to work illegally, ID cards will make it less practical to remain in the UK as a failed asylum seeker.

Burglary (Sentencing)

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what proportion of burglars convicted for a third offence received a custodial sentence in the most recent year for which information is available; and what the average length of sentence for those sentenced to custody was.

Charles Clarke: holding answer 21 February 2005
	The table gives the numbers sentenced for their third burglary offence. The numbers are for a four week period in 2001, derived from the Offenders Index. The figures include attempted burglaries, as it is not possible to distinguish between an actual and attempted burglary on the Offenders Index.
	
		Burglars convicted for their third offence (by type of burglary)
		
			  Burglary in a dwelling(13) Burglary not in a dwelling(14) 
		
		
			 Number sentenced(for the third offence) 99 89 
			 Number sentenced to custody 75 42 
			 Proportion sentenced to custody (percentage) 76 47 
			 Average sentenced length (months) 17.7 10.0 
		
	
	(13) Includes only previous convictions for burglary in a dwelling.
	Please note that definition and coverage is different from s111 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000.
	(14) Includes only previous convictions for burglary not in a dwelling

Civil Service

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many civil service staff have failed security vetting procedures in each year since 1997.

Charles Clarke: Separate figures are not kept to differentiate between civil servants and non civil servants who have been refused security vetting by the Home Office.

Community Sentences

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) community service and (b) restorative justice sentences were imposed in (i) Redbridge, (ii) Waltham Forest, (iii) London and (iv) England in each of the last three years; what proportion of all sentences in each area each represented in each year; what plans he has to encourage increased use of each type of sentence; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: Information on community sentences for the years 2000 to 2003 is contained in table A. Statistics for 2004 will be published in the latter part of this year.
	Restorative justice can form part of referral orders and reparation orders, which are disposals for juveniles. The Youth Justice Board has set a key performance indicator (KPI) for Youth Offending Teams (YOTS) which seeks to ensure that at least 75 per cent. of victims of youth crime referred to YOTS are offered the opportunity to participate in restorative processes by 2005. Table B gives performance against this KPI.
	The Government are keen to encourage the use of restorative justice throughout the adult criminal justice system. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 allows for restorative justice to be part of an offender's sentence, permitting sentencers to include it in activity requirements imposed as part of a Community Order. This will be piloted in due course. The Act also allows for the use of restorative justice in the new Conditional Caution. We are about to issue implementation guidance on restorative justice for Local Criminal Justice Boards and their constituent agencies.
	As part of the reform of the sentencing structure in the Criminal Justice Act 2003, current community sentences for adults, including the community punishment order, will be replaced by a single generic community order with a range of possible requirements. Courts will then be able to choose different elements to make up a bespoke community order. Technological advances, such as electronic monitoring provide innovative ways to monitor compliance, reduce offending and ensure community sentences are not a soft option. The new community order will be available from 4 April 2005 and will apply only to offences committed on or after that date.
	
		Table A: Persons sentenced to community sentences in Redbridge, Waltham Forest, London and England and as a proportion of all persons sentenced, 2000–03
		
			  Community rehabilitation order Supervision order Community punishment order 
			 Area and year Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage 
		
		
			 2001   
			 Redbridge 169 5 39 1 136 4 
			 Waltham Forest 170 4 38 1 141 3 
			 Total London 7,322 4 1,660 1 5,609 3 
			 Total England 55,182 4 10,103 1 46,374 4 
			
			 2002   
			 Redbridge 204 5 35 1 145 3 
			 Waltham Forest 207 4 49 1 164 3 
			 Total London 7,389 4 1,452 1 6,787 3 
			 Total England 59,805 5 9,695 1 47,285 4 
			
			 2003   
			 Redbridge 175 5 36 1 154 4 
			 Waltham Forest 188 5 45 1 172 4 
			 Total London 6,286 3 1,313 1 7,013 4 
			 Total England 58,882 4 9,174 1 46,926 3 
		
	
	
		
			  Attendance centre order Community punishment and rehabilitation order Curfew order 
			 Area and year Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage 
		
		
			 2001   
			 Redbridge 11 0 99 3 3 0 
			 Waltham Forest 25 1 69 2 9 0 
			 Total London 597 0 2,051 1 286 0 
			 Total England 5,656 0 13,610 1 3,688 0 
			
			 2002   
			 Redbridge 10 0 65 1 5 0 
			 Waltham Forest 14 0 56 1 9 0 
			 Total London 402 0 1,959 1 590 0 
			 Total England 3,834 0 14,463 1 5,933 0 
			
			 2003   
			 Redbridge 13 0 64 2 9 0 
			 Waltham Forest 10 0 59 1 4 0 
			 Total London 261 0 1,932 1 758 0 
			 Total England 3,102 0 14,169 1 9,097 1 
		
	
	
		
			  Reparation order Action plan order Drug treatment and testing order 
			 Area and year Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage 
		
		
			 2001   
			 Redbridge 17 1 34 1 21 1 
			 Waltham Forest 16 0 54 1 12 0 
			 Total London 697 0 1,331 1 712 0 
			 Total England 7,435 1 8,188 1 4,053 0 
			
			 2002   
			 Redbridge 13 0 20 0 17 0 
			 Waltham Forest 9 0 31 1 26 0 
			 Total London 412 0 789 0 791 0 
			 Total England 4,619 0 5,783 0 4,943 0 
			
			 2003   
			 Redbridge 2 0 9 0 20 1 
			 Waltham Forest 4 0 9 0 34 1 
			 Total London 229 0 482 0 1,008 1 
			 Total England 2,876 0 4,009 0 6,531 0 
		
	
	
		
			  Referral order(15) Total community sentences Total persons sentenced 
			 Area and year Number Percentage Number Percentage  
		
		
			 2001  
			 Redbridge   529 16 3,273 
			 Waltham Forest - - 534 13 4,204 
			 Total London - - 20,265 12 174,754 
			 Total England - - 154,289 12 1,252,396 
			   
			 2002  
			 Redbridge 81 2 595 13 4,432 
			 Waltham Forest 83 2 648 12 5,221 
			 Total London 3,016 2 23,587 12 200,855 
			 Total England 18,161 1 174,521 13 1,317,643 
			  120 3 602 16 3,866 
			 2003  
			 Redbridge 108 3 633 15 4,126 
			 Waltham Forest 3,617 2 22,899 12 197,069 
			 Total London 24,220 2 178,986 13 1,347,753 
			 Total England 108 3 633 15 4,126 
		
	
	(15) Referral orders were introduced nationally on 1 April 2002.
	
		Table B: Performance against the YJB Restorative Justice KPI
		
			 Percentage 
			  2002(16) 2003–04 April to December 2004(17) 
		
		
			 Redbridge 98.30 96.50 84.90 
			 Waltham Forest 18.70 47.70 90.60 
			 London 54.70 68.20 73.40 
			 England 54.80 65.50 79.90 
		
	
	(16) Due to limitations in information systems, KPI performance data before 2003–04 were collected in calendar years.
	(17) These are provisional and subject to change.

Community Sentences

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the reconviction rates were for community-based sentences in each year since 1997, broken down by (a) type of sentence and (b) offence committed.

Charles Clarke: The probability that an offender will be reconvicted is strongly associated with a number of factors such as age and previous criminal history. It is not appropriate to compare reconviction rates over time as allowances need to be made for any change in the characteristics of offenders being given community-based sentences. For instance, if young offenders were proportionally more numerous in some years than they were in others, we would predict an increase in the actual rate as younger offenders are more likely to be reconvicted.
	Home Office Online Report 59/04 controlled for such changes in characteristics, and also excluded the impact of more rigorous enforcement of breaches by the Probation Service. It found that, when compared to the reconviction rate that is predicted given their characteristics, there was a reduction of 2 per cent. in the reconviction rate between 1997 and 2001 for adult offenders given community sentences, although this reduction was not statistically significant
	The tables give unadjusted reconviction rates for those receiving community based sentences in each year since 1997, broken down by type of sentence and offence committed. The figures given are for those aged 16 and over and show the percentage reconvicted within two years. Figures broken down by offence are not readily available for the years 1997 and 1998.
	
		Reconviction rates within 2 years of commencing a community sentence under supervision of the Probation Service, since 1997, by type of order given
		
			 Percentage reconvicted 
			  Community rehabilitation order Community punishment and rehabilitation order Community punishment order All community penalties 
		
		
			 1997 60 59 48 55 
			 1998 61 59 50 56 
			 1999 61 60 48 56 
			 2000 64 63 51 59 
			 2001 65 62 50 59 
		
	
	
		Reconviction rates within 2 years of commencing a community sentence under supervision of the Probation Service, since 1997, by original offence
		
			 Percentage reconvicted 
			  Violence against the person Sexual Offences Robbery Burglary Theft 
		
		
			 1997(18) — — — — — 
			 1998(18) — — — — — 
			 1999 46 21 58 71 69 
			 2000 48 30 63 74 73 
			 2001 49 25 69 74 73 
		
	
	
		
			  Fraud and forgery Drugs offences Motoring offences Criminal damage Other Indictable offences Other summary offences 
		
		
			 1997(18) — — — — — — 
			 1998(18) — — — — — — 
			 1999 43 56 42 61 55 72 
			 2000 48 59 45 62 56 61 
			 2001 48 61 45 66 58 60 
		
	
	(18) Figures not readily available
	Notes:
	1. Only reconvictions for standard list offences are counted as reconvictions.
	2. The original offence is the principle offence at conviction. This is the conviction that incurs the most severe sentence at each court appearance.

Counter-terrorism

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the update provided at the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 19 November by the EU Counter Terrorist Co-ordinator on the EU's role in the fight against terrorism; and what documents were referred to during that update.

Charles Clarke: Minister for Europe (Caroline Flint) attended the lunch on 19 November at which the EU Counter Terrorist Co-ordinator Mr. Gijs De Vries gave a brief oral update on work under way. He underlined the importance implementing the agreed measures and legislation and in this context welcomed: the Revised EU Action Plan to Combat Terrorism; working to combat terrorist financing through the new EU strategy; an EU solidarity programme for management of the consequences of terrorist attacks; a strategy for integrating CT issues into EU external relations policy.
	All of these papers were subsequently agreed at the JHA Council on 2 December and then at the European Council on 17 December.

Counter-terrorism

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many delegates registered for his Department's conference on 18 January on protection against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear terrorist threats have indicated on the application questionnaire a background in each relevant discipline; what guidance has been given by the security services in the selection of delegates to the conference; and what the role of the conference is in respect of tenders for work on countering CBRN threats.

Charles Clarke: All applicants inquiring about the UK CBRN Science and Technology Bidders Conference were asked to give brief details of their main areas of expertise or interest. The responses given were varied and it was not possible to categorise applicants clearly by a particular discipline. The applications were checked by a small cross government scientific panel that judged whether the areas of scientific or technological interest given on each application indicated an ability to contribute to Government requirements.
	In general when deciding which applicants should be invited, the panel showed a greater bias towards applicants indicating experience or an obvious interest in chemical and biological issues, given the nature of the conference agenda.
	It has been the established policy of successive Governments to neither confirm nor deny questions concerning the activities of the intelligence and security agencies.
	Delegates are being asked to submit outline technical proposals in the appropriate areas following the conference and the most promising of these will lead to invitations to work them up into formal, costed projects that we hope could begin during 2005–06.

Country Information and Policy Unit Reports

Barbara Roche: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps have been taken to ensure the quality and accuracy of information in the Country Information and Policy Unit's report on Algeria.

Des Browne: Standard instructions are given to the Country Information and Policy Unit (CIPU) staff about ensuring that the Reports are as accurate, balanced, impartial and up to date as possible. All Country Reports by CIPU go through a quality assurance procedure that includes internal scrutiny, and consultation with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, before issue. In addition the independent Advisory Panel on Country Information provides rigorous external scrutiny of country information material produced by the Home Office and makes recommendations to help ensure that it is of the highest quality. The Advisory Panel rightly considered it essential that the Home Office's country information material should not only be objective in fact, but that it should also be perceived as being objective and have the confidence of all its users. That is why I announced on 8 September 2004 that in future, the production of country information material used by the Home Office will be undertaken by a country information unit dedicated solely to that function.
	The Home Office Country Report on Algeria was last updated in April 2004. No further update was issued in October 2004 because Algeria does not currently come within the criteria we use when determining for which countries we produce regular reports.

Home Detention Curfew

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners have been released on the home detention curfew scheme since January 1999; what the categories of offences were for which they had sentenced; how many such prisoners were released in each category; and what the average sentence received was in relation to each category.

Charles Clarke: The information requested, as recorded on the Prison Service IT system for the period 28 January 1999 to 31 January 2005, is provided in the table.
	Investigations suggest that offence codes are recorded incorrectly for around 5 per cent. of all home detention curfew (HDC) discharges. This is due to the way the Prison Service IT system deals with a prisoner's record if he/she is returned to custody for committing further offences prior to the licence expiry date of the original sentence. The new offence code overrides the original offence code under which the prisoner was released on HDC.
	The table includes releases relating to sexual offenders. These were eligible to be considered for release under HDC until March 2001. Since then, prisoners subject to the registration requirements of part 1 of the Sex Offenders Act 1997 (now replaced by part 2 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003) are statutorily excluded from the scheme and all other prisoners convicted of a sexual offence are presumed unsuitable for release on HDC. In addition, since 14 July 2003 prisoners convicted of certain serious offences, including offences involving the death of the victim, attempted murder, threats to kill and racially aggravated offences, are presumed unsuitable for release unless there are exceptional circumstances.
	
		HDC discharges by offence type(19)—28 January 1999 to 31 January 2005
		
			  Number Average sentence (months) 
		
		
			 Total 106,356 14.5 
			 Violence against the person 19,077 14.8 
			 Sexual offences 78 12.0 
			 Burglary 9,751 19.7 
			 Robbery 5,133 27.9 
			 Theft and handling 14,212 11.0 
			 Fraud and forgery 7,409 13.4 
			 Drugs offences 15,139 22.6 
			 Motoring offences 17,148 5.5 
			 Other(20) 18,409 12.8 
		
	
	1 Offence recorded on Prison Service IT system.
	Investigations suggest that around 5 per cent. of offence types recorded on this system do not relate to the offence they were released on HDC for, but relate to offences committed after release from prison and before their licence expiry date.
	(19) Includes the offence of bigamy.

Immigration

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the 35 main ports of entry to the United Kingdom, as defined by the Immigration Act 1971.

Charles Clarke: The Statutory Instrument 1987/177 designated 35 ports of entry for the purposes of the Immigration Act 1971. These are as follows:
	Seaports and Hoverports
	Dover, Felixstowe, Folkestone, Harwich, Hull, London, Newhaven, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Ramsgate, Sheerness, Southampton and Tyne.
	Airports
	Aberdeen, Belfast, Birmingham, Bournemouth (Hum), Bristol, Cardiff (Wales), East Midlands, Edinburgh, Gatwick—London, Glasgow, Heathrow—London, Leeds/Bradford, Liverpool, Luton, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich, Prestwick, Southampton, Southend, Stansted London and Teesside.

Immigration

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which of the 35 main ports of entry to the United Kingdom are staffed 24 hours a day.

Charles Clarke: Of the 35 ports of entry designated in the Statutory Instrument (SI)1987/177 (which designated ports of entry for the purposes of the 1971 Act), 11 are currently staffed 24 hours a day.
	These are:
	Airports
	Birmingham, East Midlands, Gatwick, Glasgow, Heathrow, Liverpool, Luton, Manchester and Stansted.
	Seaports
	Harwich and Portsmouth.
	Other ports are staffed to provide coverage in line with passenger services requiring immigration control.

Immigration

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many illegal immigrants were found at each of the 35 main ports of entry to the United Kingdom in each year since 1997; and how many were found in total in each year.

Charles Clarke: Data is not available for 1997. Locally collated management information for 1998 to 2004 is provided in Table 1. This data may be subject to change and does not represent National Statistics. These figures relate predominately to clandestine entrants but may also include other categories of illegal entry.
	
		Table 1: Illegal immigrants found at UK ports, 1997 to 2004(20)
		
			 Location 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 Aberdeen n/a 0 0 0 1 0 40 4 
			 Belfast n/a 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 
			 Birmingham n/a 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Bournemouth (Hurn) n/a 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Bristol n/a 0 0 0 1 0 8 12 
			 Cardiff n/a 0 0 0 1 0 2 13 
			 Dover n/a 3,212 8,888 12,677 9,220 8,030 1,651 804 
			 East Midlands n/a 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 
			 Edinburgh n/a 0 0 0 0 0 10 1 
			 Felixstowe n/a 261 459 367 107 39 5 20 
			 Folkestone n/a 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Gatwick n/a  0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Glasgow n/a 0 8 0 0 0 10 0 
			 Harwich n/a 250 286 108 90 8 10 6 
			 Heathrow n/a 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 
			 Hull n/a 83 67 0 60 0 19 39 
			 Leeds/ Bradford n/a 23 6 88 0 0 1 1 
			 Liverpool n/a 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 London n/a 0 0 0 28 9 0 0 
			 Luton n/a 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Manchester n/a 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Newcastle n/a 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Newhaven n/a 40 4 2 0 21 10 21 
			 Norwich n/a 5 3 0 0 0 6 1 
			 Plymouth n/a 7 6 0 0 3 4 6 
			 Portsmouth n/a 255 177 60 106 41 160 192 
			 Prestwick n/a 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Ramsgate n/a 102 0 0 0 0 1 0 
			 Sheerness n/a 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Southampton n/a 0 0 0 0 0 2 7 
			 Southend n/a 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Stansted n/a 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Teesside n/a 0 0 125 115 5 1 1 
			 Tyne ports n/a 22 35 46 11 9 4 7 
			 Total(21) n/a 4,262 9,939 13,473 9,740 8,171 1,946 1,143 
		
	
	(20) The data provided are based on locally collated management information, which may be subject to change.
	(21) The total is only for the ports listed.
	Table 2 shows published data on the total number of persons against whom illegal entry action was initiated since 1997. Illegal entry action is initiated against those people who are detected having entered or attempted to enter the country clandestinely or by means of deception, either verbal or documentary. These figures include those illegal entrants detected both at ports of entry and inland.
	
		Table 2: Persons against whom illegal entry action was initiated, 1997 to 2004(22)
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1997 14,390 
			 1998 16,500 
			 1999 21,165 
			 2000 47,325 
			 2001 69,875 
			 2002 48,050 
			 2003(23) 22,950 
			 2004(24) Not available 
		
	
	(22) Figures rounded to the nearest 5.
	(23) Data were not of sufficient quality for publication in 2003, however it is estimated that 22,950 persons had illegal entry action initiated against them in this year. Due to poor data quality this is not an official statistic.
	(24) Data for 2004 are not yet available. These will be published in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin "Control of Immigration Statistics: United Kingdom, 2004" in summer 2005.
	Official statistics on immigration matters are available from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.home office.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

IND Training

Barbara Roche: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what training is provided to senior caseworkers in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate to help them provide support and advice to junior officials.

Des Browne: Senior caseworkers will normally have had significant experience as asylum caseworkers and will have received the same training as caseworkers earlier in their careers.
	In addition, all senior caseworkers have direct access to policy experts in the Asylum Policy Unit, country information specialists in the County Information Policy Unit and, in appropriate cases, to legal advice from the Home Office Legal Advisers Branch.
	Senior Caseworkers also have the opportunity to meet regularly with a wide range of external stakeholders to further augment their understanding of asylum policy and process.

John Lennon Airport

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many individuals entering the country with questionable identification have been detained at John Lennon airport but have subsequently absconded from the airport in the last 12 months;
	(2)  what the minimum number of Custom and Immigration officers on duty at John Lennon airport was in the last period for which figures are available;
	(3)  what representations have been made to his Department on detention arrangements for passengers believed to be trying to enter the country illegally at John Lennon airport;
	(4)  what discussions have taken place with (a) Peel Holdings and (b) operators of no frills airlines with regard to improving security at John Lennon airport.

Des Browne: The Immigration Service provides a 24 hour service at John Lennon airport. Two immigration officers are scheduled for duty throughout the period, except from 07.30 to 10.00 hours when there is one. This shift coverage takes into account the schedule of incoming flights.
	There are no customs officers permanently based at Liverpool John Lennon airport. Customs attendance is determined on the basis of risk. Customs officers deploy to the airport in accordance with flight or passenger profiles or more specific intelligence. Mobile staff are deployed from the local area, or from the regional or national strike forces on a flexible basis in order to be able to respond to any identified risk. They attend selected arrivals for class 'A' drugs, revenue goods and other prohibited or restricted items, and selected departures for work in connection with the Proceeds of Crime Act. Therefore, there will be no customs staff on duty for some arrivals/departures, but a much larger number of mobile staff for others, where a risk has been identified.
	The Immigration Service is working to identify and implement cost effective improvements to ensure appropriate access to detention and escort facilities when required.
	Peel Holdings, as the airport operator, has overall responsibility for the security of John Lennon airport. A representative from the Immigration Service attends regular meetings with Peel Holdings, the police, HM Customs and Excise and other control authority partners, to discuss new airline routes and airport development. The Immigration Service also attend a monthly multi agency threat and risk assessment meeting with other security stakeholders to make accurate assessments of any threats to John Lennon airport.
	Between April 2004 and January 2005 there have been three occasions where passengers, whose identity was in doubt, have absconded from the immigration control at John Lennon airport. To reduce the risk of this happening again, the Immigration Service are in negotiations to improve security at the immigration control there. Records of such absconders prior to April 2004 are not available.

Police Surveillance

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether it is his policy to require a police officer to obtain a new authorisation to undertake (a) covert and (b) directed surveillance of (i) named and (ii) as yet unidentified criminal associates of individuals if they were not originally named in authorisation of surveillance, under Part II of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.

Charles Clarke: Guidance on authorisation procedures is contained in the statutory code of practice on the use of covert surveillance, adopted by Parliament pursuant to section 71 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. Paragraph 2.8 provides guidance on circumstances when an investigation or operation unexpectedly interferes with the privacy of individuals not covered by the authorisation. The Code states
	"When the original authorisation may not be sufficient, consideration should be given to whether the authorisation needs to be amended and reauthorised or a new authorisation is required."
	When the identities of previously unknown subjects or their associates become known they should be identified in a renewal authorisation, so long as it is consistent with the original authorisation. If the scope of the investigation or operation is to be broadened a new authorisation will be required.

Race Relations (Sikhs)

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he has taken to counter racism against Sikh and Muslim communities.

Charles Clarke: holding answer 20 December 2004
	We are committed to tackling racist behaviour wherever it occurs and in whatever form. The Government introduced in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 nine new racially-aggravated offences which carry higher maximum penalties where there is evidence of a racist motive or racial hostility in connection with the offence. The offences include assaults, verbal abuse and harassment and criminal damage. For these purposes Sikhs and Jews have been deemed by the courts to be racial groups.
	The Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 expanded these provisions to cover religiously—as well as racially-aggravated offences, thereby affording the same protection against attacks to religious groups such as Muslims and Christians.
	Under the same Act the maximum penalty for incitement to racial hatred, an offence under Part III of the Public Order Act 1986, was increased from two to seven years' imprisonment. This offence makes it unlawful to use threatening, abusive or insulting language with the intention or likelihood that racial hatred would be stirred up.
	The Home Secretary has announced that as part of its Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill, the Government are proposing extending this offence to afford the same protection against incitement to hatred to faith communities including Muslims.
	The Association of Chief Police Officers is updating its guidance to forces on dealing with hate crime and the Crown Prosecution Service has made clear in its published policy its determination to deal robustly with racial and religious hate crime.

Regional Offender Managers

Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the estimated annual cost is for the operation of each of the regional offender managers' offices; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: The final location and composition of the regional offender managers' offices has yet to be finalised and the budgets for the offices are yet to be set. However, an indicative budget for 2005–06 for Regional Offender Managers offices has been set at £1.7 million resource.

Research Documents

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many documents have been published by the Research, Development and Statistics section of his Department on each day of the last six months, broken down by subject area.

Charles Clarke: The information requested on publications published by the Home Office over the last six months is shown in the table. Please note we have classified the research according to the business area leads although some publications will be on more cross cutting topics that cover more than one business area.
	
		Publications released by Home Office Research and Statistics—September 2004 to March 2005
		
			 Publication date Title Series RDS Business area 
		
		
			 13 September 2004 Drugs seizure and offender statistics SB Drugs 
			 17 September 2004 Piloting 'on the spot penalties' for disorder: final results from a one-year pilot Findings Criminal Justice and Corrections 
			 21 September 2004 Prisoner-on-prisoner homicide in England and Wales OLR Criminal Justice and Corrections 
			 21 September 2004 Prisoner-on-prisoner homicide in England and Wales Findings Criminal Justice and Corrections 
			 23 September 2004 Meeting parents' needs for information: evidence from the 2001 Home Office Citizenship Survey OLR Communities 
			 29 September 2004 Community Support Officer (Detention Power) Pilot: evaluation results Other Crime and Policing 
			 29 September 2004 Police service strength—England and Wales 31 March 2004 SB Crime and Policing 
			 5 October 2004 Employer-supported volunteering and giving: findings from the 2001 Home Office Citizenship Survey HORS Communities 
			 6 October 2004 Black and Asian offenders pathfinder: implementation report DPR Criminal Justice and Corrections 
			 7 October 2004 Understanding voluntary return OLR Immigration and Asylum 
			 13 October 2004 What works in community involvement in area-based initiatives? A systematic review of the literature OLR Communities 
			 13 October 2004 Facilitating community involvement: practical guidance for practitioners and policy makers DPR Communities 
			 20 October 2004 Tackling domestic violence: exploring the health service contribution OLR Crime and Policing 
			 20 October 2004 Tackling domestic violence: the role of health professionals DPR Crime and Policing 
			 21 October 2004 Crime stats—quarterly bulletin SB Crime and Policing 
			 21 October 2004 Short report on distraction burglary Online supplement to SB 1404 Crime and Policing 
			 28 October 2004 Perceptions and experience of antisocial behaviour: findings from the 2003/2004 British Crime Survey OLR Crime and Policing 
			 28 October 2004 Perceptions and experience of antisocial behaviour Findings Crime and Policing 
			 28 October 2004 Indicators of integration DPR Immigration and Asylum 
			 28 October 2004 The experience of integration: a qualitative study of refugee integration in the local communities of Pollokshaws and Islington OLR Immigration and Asylum 
			 1 November 2004 Intelligence led vehicle crime reduction: an evaluation of Operation Gallant OLR Crime and Policing 
			 1 November 2004 Approaches to intelligence-led vehicle crime reduction DPR Crime and Policing 
			 1 November 2004 Emerging methods of car theft—theft of keys Findings Crime and Policing 
			 1 November 2004 Decision-making by house burglars: offenders' perspectives Findings Crime and Policing 
			 4 November 2004 Reassurance policing: an evaluation of the local management of community safety HORS Crime and Policing 
			 4 November 2004 Reassuring the public; a review of international policing interventions HORS Crime and Policing 
			 4 November 2004 Reassuring the public; a review of international policing interventions Findings Crime and Policing 
			 15 November 2004 An evaluation of the impact of restorative cautioning: findings from a reconviction study Findings Criminal Justice and Corrections 
			 15 November 2004 Two-year resanctioning study: a comparison of restorative and traditional cautions OLR Criminal Justice and Corrections 
			 16 November 2004 Sizing the illegally resident population in the UK OLR Immigration and Asylum 
			 16 November 2004 Asylum statistics 3rd quarter 2004 Online Immigration and Asylum 
			 17 November 2004 Central Government funding of voluntary and community organisations, 1982/83 to 2001/02 Misc Communities 
			 17 November 2004 State of the Sector Panel—Conference newsletter Other Communities 
			 26 November 2004 Tackling Crimes Against Small Businesses—Lessons from the Small Retailers in Deprived Areas Initiative' DPR Crime and Policing 
			 26 November 2004 Crime against retail and manufacturing premises: findings from the 2002 Commercial Victimisation Survey Findings Crime and Policing 
			 30 November 2004 Problem-solving street crime: practical lessons from the Street Crime Initiative Other Crime and Policing 
			 30 November 2004 Police complaints and discipline 2004 England and Wales SB Crime and Policing 
			 1 December 2004 University student safety in the East Midlands OLR Crime and Policing 
			 2 December 2004 Statistics on mentally disordered offenders 2003 SB Criminal Justice and Corrections 
			 2 December 2004 The impact of corrections on re-offending: a review of 'what works' HORS Criminal Justice and Corrections 
			 2 December 2004 Adult reconviction: results from the 2001 cohort OLR Criminal Justice and Corrections 
			 2 December 2004 Juvenile reconviction: results from the 2001 and 2002 cohorts OLR Criminal Justice and Corrections 
			 3 December 2004 The police recording of computer crime DPR Crime and Policing 
			 6 December 2004 Drink driving: prevalence and attitudes in England and Wales 2002 Findings Criminal Justice and Corrections 
			 6 December 2004 Tackling domestic violence: providing support for children who have witnessed domestic violence DPR Crime and Policing 
			 8 December 2004 The future of netcrime now: Part 1 : threats and challenges OLR Crime and Policing 
			 8 December 2004 The future of netcrime now: Part 2: responses OLR Crime and Policing 
			 9 December 2004 Offender management statistics 2003 SB Criminal Justice and Corrections 
			 9 December 2004 Domestic violence and Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships: findings from a self-completion questionnaire OLR Crime and Policing 
			 15 December 2004 Public attitudes to the criminal justice system: the impact of providing information to British Crime Survey respondents OLR Crime and Policing 
			 16 December 2004 Drug offenders in England and Wales 2003 Findings Drugs 
			 16 December 2004 Arrests for notifiable offences and the creation of certain police powers under PACE, England and Wales 2003/2004 SB Criminal Justice and Corrections 
			 21 December 2004 Approved premises: the results of a snapshot survey, 2003 Findings Criminal Justice and Corrections 
			 21 December 2004 Factors associated with effective practice in bail and probation hostels OLR Criminal Justice and Corrections 
			 21 December 2004 Pathfinder programmes in the Probation Service: a retrospective analysis OLR Criminal Justice and Corrections 
			 30 December 2004 2003 Home Office Citizenship Survey: people, families and communities HORS Communities 
			 19 January 2005 Diversity, trust and community participation in England Findings Communities 
			 20 January 2005 The impact of mandatory drug testing in prisons OLR Criminal Justice and Corrections 
			 20 January 2005 The impact and effectiveness of mandatory drug testing in prisons Findings Criminal Justice and Corrections 
			 24 January 2005 Prison population projections 2005–2011 SB Criminal Justice and Corrections 
			 25 January 2005 Offending in England and Wales: first results from the 2003 Crime and Justice Survey HORS Crime and Policing 
			 25 January 2005 Offending in England and Wales: first results from the 2003 Crime and Justice Survey Findings Crime and Policing 
			 25 January 2005 Young people and antisocial behaviour: findings from the 2003 Crime and Justice Survey Findings Crime and Policing 
			 25 January 2005 The victimisation of young people: findings from the Crime and Justice Survey 2003 Findings Crime and Policing 
			 25 January 2005 Crime and Justice Survey: General Population Feasibility Study OLR Criminal Justice and Corrections 
			 25 January 2005 Crime and Justice Survey: Communal Establishments Feasibility Study OLR Criminal Justice and Corrections 
			 25 January 2005 Crime in England and Wales, Quarterly update to September 2004 SB (web only) Crime and Policing 
			 25 January 2005 Crime in England and Wales 2003/2004 Supplementary volume 1: homicide and gun crime SB Crime and Policing 
			 27 January 2005 Throughcare and aftercare: approaches and promising practice in service delivery for clients released from prison or leaving residential rehabilitation OLR Criminal Justice and Corrections 
			 27 January 2005 Making it happen from the centre: managing for the regional delivery of local crime reduction outcomes OLR Crime and Policing 
			 27 January 2005 Investing to deliver: reviewing the implementation of the UK Crime Reduction Programme HORS Crime and Policing 
			 27 January 2005 The Reducing Burglary Initiative: design, development and delivery HORS Crime and Policing 
			 27 January 2005 The role of early legal advice in asylum applications OLR Immigration and Asylum 
			 27 January 2005 The paradox of Compacts: monitoring the impact of Compacts OLR Communities 
			 27 January 2005 Rapid assessment of powers to close 'crack houses' DPR Crime and Policing 
			 27 January 2005 The nature of rape of females in the Metropolitan Police District Findings Crime and Policing 
			 27 January 2005 Children, risk and crime: the On Track Youth Lifestyles Survey HORS Crime and Policing 
			 27 January 2005 A further study of the effects of alternative education initiatives OLR Crime and Policing 
			 17 February 2005 Juvenile reconviction: results from the 2003 cohort OLR Criminal Justice and Corrections 
			 22 February 2005 Asylum statistics: 4th quarter 2004 Online Immigration and Asylum 
			 23 February 2005 Sentencing statistics 2003 England and Wales SB Criminal Justice and Corrections 
			 24 February 2005 Statistics on race and the Criminal Justice system, Section 95 Online only Criminal Justice and Corrections 
			 24 February 2005 Resettlement outcomes on release from prison in 2003 Findings Criminal Justice and Corrections 
			 24 February 2005 Tackling domestic violence: effective interventions and approaches HORS Crime and Policing 
			 24 February 2005 Tackling domestic violence: providing advocacy and support to survivors of domestic violence DPR Crime and Policing 
			 24 February 2005 Tackling domestic violence: providing advocacy and support to survivors from Black and other minority ethnic communities DPR Crime and Policing 
			 24 February 2005 Providing counselling, support and information to survivors of rape: an evaluation of the 'STAR' Young Persons' Project OLR Crime and Policing 
			 24 February 2005 A gap or a chasm: attrition in reported rape cases HORS Crime and Policing 
			 24 February 2005 Police attitudes to and use of CCTV OLR Crime and Policing 
			 24 February 2005 Public attitudes towards CCTV: results from the Pre-intervention Public Attitude Survey carried out in areas implementing CCTV OLR Crime and Policing 
			 24 February 2005 Assessing the impact of CCTV HORS Crime and Policing 
			 24 February 2005 Control room operation: findings from control room observations OLR Crime and Policing 
			 24 February 2005 National evaluation of CCTV project summary South City OLR Crime and Policing 
			 24 February 2005 National evaluation of CCTV project summary Hawkeye OLR Crime and Policing 
			 24 February 2005 National evaluation of CCTV project summary Northern Estate OLR Crime and Policing 
			 24 February 2005 The impact of CCTV: fourteen case studies OLR Crime and Policing 
			 24 February 2005 A good practice guide for the implementation of deployable CCTV OLR Crime and Policing 
			 24 February 2005 Technical Annex: methods used in assessing the impact of CCTV OLR Crime and Policing 
			 24 February 2005 A survey of the illegally resident population in detention in the UK OLR Immigration and Asylum 
			 24 February 2005 A survey of the illegally resident population in detention in the UK Findings Immigration and Asylum 
			 24 February 2005 An evaluation of basic skills training for prisoners Findings Criminal Justice and Corrections 
			 24 February 2005 Understanding electronic monitoring of juveniles on bail or remand to local authority accommodation OLR Criminal Justice and Corrections 
			 24 February 2005 Confidence in the criminal justice system: explaining area variation in public confidence Findings Criminal Justice and Corrections 
			 24 February 2005 Literature review on upper level drug trafficking OLR Drugs 
			 24 February 2005 Police Service strength, England and Wales 30 Sept 2004 OLR Crime and Policing 
			 1 March 2005 Drug offenders in England and Wales 2003 Findings Drugs 
		
	
	Key:
	OLR—Online report
	DPR—Development and practice report
	SB—Statistical bulletin
	Findings—Brief summary of research findings
	HORS—Home Office Research Study
	Other/Misc—publications that do not appear in a standard RDS series
	CRCSG—Crime Reduction and Community Safety Group
	OCJR—Office for Criminal Justice Reform
	CG—Communities Group
	IRSS—Immigration Research and Statistics Service

UK Passports

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether changes are planned to the format of (a) the UK passport and (b) the passport application form; and if he will make a statement.

Des Browne: holding answer 16 March 2005
	With the introduction of the e-passport by the end of 2005, UKPS plan to make changes to the current format of the UK passport. These changes include enhanced security features and aesthetic changes that will distinguish the new book from the current passport. These changes will be ICAO compliant and will contribute to maintaining the UK Passport one of the most secure passport documents in the world.
	The UK Passport Service regularly reviews the passport application form and associated guidance. The last update was in August 2004. No further changes to the passport application form are planned in the immediate future.

Burgaled Breiz Trawler

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what steps were taken by (a) the Royal Navy and (b) other nations' military involved to broadcast a warning about (i) anti submarine and (ii) other warfare training exercises in the vicinity at the time of the sinking of the Burgaled Breiz on 15 January 2004; and on which days between 14 and 31 January 2004 military exercises took place in this part of the English Channel;
	(2)  whether (a) UK and (b) other nations' submarines returned to (i) Plymouth and (ii) other ports (A) for technical reasons and (B) due to damage sustained to the vessel in the days after the sinking of the Burgaled Breiz on 15 January 2004;
	(3)  whether the Department has satellite records of the area of the sinking of the Burgaled Breiz at 12.33 GMT on 15 January 2004;
	(4)  what the itinerary was of each (a) UK and (b) other nations' submarine within UK territorial waters south of the Cornish coast on 15 January 2004;
	(5)  how many (a) UK and (b) other EU nations' military helicopters were (i) flying as part of an international military exercise and (ii) prepared for action in the sea area south of the Cornish coast on 15 January 2004;
	(6)  who the owner was of each of the life rafts found by aircrew from RNAS Culdrose based at 771 Search and Rescue Squadron when responding to the foundering of the Cap Burgaled Breiz on 15 January 2004;
	(7)  if he will list the (a) UK and (b) other nations' submarines which took part in military exercises in the English channel during January 2004; and on which days during that month each took part in the exercises;
	(8)  on how many occasions during the period from 1 January 2003 to 31 January 2004 UK naval vessels were involved in a Thursday war military exercise in the English Channel.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 14 March 2005
	Submarine Exercise Area Warnings are published in the Admiralty Notice to Mariners and on Admiralty charts. SUBFACTS (submarine activity in the area), which included the vicinity where the Burgaled Breiz was lost, were broadcast by the Coastguard every four hours from 150140 GMT. Other warnings of warfare training exercises are only broadcast if gunnery firings are to take place. The exercises taking place in this area on 15 January 2004 did not include any gunnery firings.
	The German submarine (FGS) U26 arrived alongside in Plymouth on the day of the sinking at 0748 GMT on 15 January 2004 and sailed at 1600 GMT the same day. She returned to Plymouth on 22 January for a Port Visit before providing planned support to Flag Officer Sea Training from 26–29 January. HMS Turbulent sailed from Plymouth on 16 January for surfaced trials off Rame Head and returned alongside that evening, having suffered damage to a towed cable, while conducting those trials. No other submarines went alongside in Plymouth or other ports on the day of or in the days following the loss of the fishing vessel, either for technical reasons or for damage sustained by any cause.
	We have no record of contemporary satellite images of the area where the Burgaled Breiz sank for any time period on the 15 January 2004. Such images may, however, be available from commercial sources.
	Submarine activity in the English Channel and UK territorial waters during January 2004 was as follows:
	
		
			 Submarine Dates Itinery Position Comments 
		
		
			 HMS Torbay 15 January 2004 UK led exercise At 151253 GMT: 49 deg 32.33 min North, 007 deg 55 min West  
			 HMS Torbay 16–26 January 2004 UK led exercise SW of Cornwall  
			 HNLMS Dolfijn 15 January 2004 On surface in transit to UK led exercise At 151253 GMT: 49 deg 32.33 min North, 005 deg 16.16 min West Responded to relay of Mayday at 1300 GMT from FV reporting position some 11 nautical miles NE of her location. 
			 HNLMS Dolfijn 16–26 January 2004 UK led exercise SW of Cornwall  
			 FGS U22 15 January 2004 On dived passage to Mediterranean Sea At 151253 GMT: 49deg 30.05 min North, 004 deg 07.09 min West Continued her transit through French waters 
			 FGS U26 15 January 2004  Alongside in Devonport from150748 GMT until 151600 GMT  
			 FGS U26 16–22 January 2004 UK led exercise SW of Cornwall  
			 HMS Turbulent 15 January 2004  Alongside in Devonport  
			 HMS Turbulent 16 January 2004 Surfaced trials off Rame Head Off Rame Head (entrance to Plymouth Harbour) Returned to Devonport that evening having suffered damage to a towed cable. 
		
	
	The French submarine (FS) RUBIS was routed by French Navy authorities from French exercise areas off Brest and in the Bay of Biscay into the ASW exercise area for the start of the exercise. Her route brought her in from the South, however, and she did not enter the Channel areas controlled by the UK. On completion of the exercise she was due to visit Plymouth (from 30 January until 2 February), but the weather conditions were too poor to enable a safe recovery of her towed sonar and she made a surfaced passage to Brest.
	The ASW exercise did not commence until 16 January 2004, helicopters may have been embarked on the vessels with helicopter capability which were alongside at Devonport on 15 January 2004 (four UK, two Dutch, one French) but this cannot be confirmed.
	On 15 January 2004, two Dauphin helicopters from POST were flying in the area; one from approximately 0920 and the other from approximately 1310. The duration of these flights was not recorded but it is not thought that either would have exceeded two hours.
	Helicopters from RNAS Culdrose were conducting training in the local area on 15 January 2004. Between 0830 and 1700 up to five Merlin, three Sea King Mk 5 and two Sea King Mk 7 took part in this training. The duty Search and Rescue (SAR) helicopters from Culdrose and Chivenor responded to the Burgaled Breiz incident, covering the time from 1249 to 1700.
	The crew of the RNAS Culdrose SAR helicopter who responded to the emergency reports of the foundering of the Burgaled Breiz found one life raft in the area. This life raft contained a package of papers, which were not opened by the crew of the SAR helicopter, but were passed to the police via the Falmouth Coastguard. A second life raft was found by a French fishing vessel. It is not known if either life raft has been positively identified as belonging to the Burgaled Breiz.
	UK naval vessels were involved in 44 elements of "Thursday War" military exercises in the English Channel in the period from 1 January 2003 to 31 January 2004.

Royal Navy

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what efficiency savings have been made against fleet activity in the Royal Navy for each of the last seven years.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 14 March 2005
	Prior to financial year 2000–01, there was no requirement to record efficiency savings. With effect from FY 2004–05 the requirement to record such measures will once again cease. The following year-on-year efficiency savings for those FYs in which records were mandatory, were achieved in the Fleet TLB:
	
		
			 Financial year £ million 
		
		
			 2000–01 8.233 
			 2001–02 5.206 
			 2002–03 15.786 
			 2003–04 22.485 
		
	
	Efficiency savings resulting from the Fleet TLB restructuring (Fleet First) in March 2002, constitute the major element of the savings achieved in the latter two FYs.

Accelerate Programme

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the 16 companies in the Birmingham, Hodge Hill constituency that are participating in Advantage West Midland's Accelerate Programme.

Nigel Griffiths: The following are the 16 companies who have had/have support from the Accelerate Programme and are in the Hodgehill constituency.
	Delcam Plc, B100HJ
	Modular Auto International Ltd., BIO OHJ
	Alstain Metal Services, BIO OHR
	Hi-Vol (CNC) Productions Ltd., B10 OQJ
	Illston and Robson, BI0 OQQ
	Delcam Ltd., B10 0HJ
	Redfern Stevens Ltd., B25 SHE
	CJD Mayers, B25 8HT
	Ionic Engineering , B25 8LD
	Tocco Ltd., B33 OLG
	A C Coatings, B33 OSL
	Brydon Pressing, B33 OSL
	Micron Engineering, B33 OSL
	ABL (Aluminium Components) Ltd., B33 OTD
	JJ Engineering Ltd., B33 OTJ
	RPL Productions, B33 9BE

Credit Card Borrowing

Parmjit Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans her Department has to issue guidance on the consequences of unsustainable borrowing on credit cards.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Credit is an integral part of our daily lives and in the majority of cases consumers are using credit successfully—confident in their ability to repay due to the underlying economic stability.
	We have been particularly concerned to ensure that consumers are made aware of the cost of their borrowing. To this end, the Consumer Credit (Agreements) (Amendment) Regulations 2004 laid before Parliament on 9 June 2004 include provisions to ensure that consumers are made aware of the dangers of failing to repay their borrowing, including the fact that missing payments can have severe consequences for the consumer.
	We have also worked closely with the credit industry in developing the voluntary warnings they have introduced on monthly statements about the dangers of only making minimum payments.

Office Supplies

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much the Department spent on (a) stationery and (b) office supplies in each year since 1997.

Patricia Hewitt: Expenditure for stationery and office supplies can be provided only from 1998–99, the first year for which resource information was produced, any earlier figures would not be meaningful. The following figures show the total expenditure between 1998–99 and 2003–04.
	
		
			   £ million 
			  Stationery Office supplies 
		
		
			 1998–99 2.07 0.13 
			 1999–2000 1.92 0.14 
			 2000–01 2.04 0.15 
			 2001–02 1.68 0.09 
			 2002–03 2.41 0.13 
			 2003–04 1.83 0.08 
		
	
	The purchasing of stationery and office supplies is the responsibility of individual management units.

Online Company Registration

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the latest figures are for online company registration; and what steps she has taken to evaluate consumer satisfaction with the process.

Gerry Sutcliffe: At the end of February of the financial year 2004–05 Companies House had incorporated a total of 297,368 companies, of which 219,570 were incorporated electronically. This represents 73.8 per cent. of the total number of incorporations for that period. Companies House has regular contact with the customers for this service via an electronic filing focus group which meets in April and November each year. Customers can also provide feedback through our customer services team at any other time if they wish.
	To evaluate consumer satisfaction with the service, Companies House carries out regular Customer Satisfaction Surveys. The following table gives results from the last two quarters' Surveys in areas relevant to online company registration.
	The table gives the results of the latest customer satisfaction survey and the figures given indicate the percentage of people satisfied when questioned about the services provided. Figures are given for the previous and most recent quarterly survey.
	
		Customer Satisfaction Survey
		
			 Percentage 
			  2004 
			  Quarter 2 Quarter 3 
		
		
			 Customer care attitude 83.6 83.5 
			 How reliable do you find the service? 80.8 82.8 
			 Contact centre staff attitude 83.7 82.7 
			 New companies attitude 83.5 81.6 
			 How easy did you find the electronic filing service to use? 76.5 80.8 
			 IT support attitude 81.7 79.2 
			 New companies knowledge 80.9 79.2 
			 If you had to call the helpdesk (0845 3333636) how quickly did we resolve the problem? 73.6 74.4 
			 If there was a problem with the service how quickly did we make it known? 71.4 71.2

Women's Employment

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of factors affecting (a) entry to the labour market, (b) progression within the labour market and (c) re-entry into the labour market after pregnancy by women from ethnic minority groups.

Patricia Hewitt: DTI is working with the Ethnic Minority Employment Task Force, led by the Department for Work and Pensions, to tackle the barriers to labour market participation faced by ethnic minorities, including those faced by ethnic minority women and ethnic minority women returners. This work stems from the Strategy Unit report "Ethnic minorities in the labour market" published in March 2003. DTIs specific contribution is around working with business to promote race equality and diversity in the workplace and promoting enterprise.
	The taskforce has published an interim report on its first year's activities. That report and further information about the taskforce's activities are available from the taskforce website at www.emetaskforce. gov.uk, and copies have been placed in the Libraries of the House. The final report is due by autumn 2006.

Royal Meetings

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Prime Minister which of his meetings with HRH the Prince of Wales during the period 1 to 10 February were not published in the Official Court Circular; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: Details of meetings published in the Court Circular are a matter for the Royal Household. Discussions with the Royal Household are not disclosed.

DLA

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Disability Living Allowance applications for adults were rejected and then subsequently approved after review in each of the past three years, broken down by (a) county and (b) region.

Maria Eagle: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information that is available is set out in the following tables.
	
		Table 1: DLA first awards on initial claims and reviews for working age adults in Great Britain by Government Office Region in 2002, 2003, 2004.
		
			 Thousand 
			  2002 2003 2004 
			  Initial claim Reviews Initial claim Reviews Initial claim Reviews 
		
		
			 North-east 49.2 6.4 50.3 5.7 50.8 5.3 
			 North-west 129.7 18.0 138.2 17.7 143.9 17.7 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 80.8 9.9 85.4 9.8 89.9 9.8 
			 East Midlands 60.9 6.9 64.4 7.2 67.4 7.3 
			 West Midlands 80.0 9.3 85.1 9.4 87.7 8.9 
			 East 58.6 6.5 64.6 6.1 66.9 6.2 
			 London 88.1 10.0 95.4 10.2 102.3 9.9 
			 South-east 67.0 8.0 72.4 8.5 79.1 8.3 
			 South-west 53.5 6.2 58.4 6.3 63.5 6.4 
			 Wales 66.8 9.2 69.9 9.3 72.5 9.0 
			 Scotland 85.8 12.2 94.1 11.4 98.5 10.6 
			 Total 820.3 102.6 878.2 101.6 922.6 99.4 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Datasets derived from the 5 per cent. sample do not include information on successful claims.
	2. County information is not available because the data is not fully populated and therefore would provide unreliable results.
	3. Initial claims include new claims, duplicate claims and renewal claims.
	Source:
	DWP Information Division 5 per cent. sample of first awards in the 12 months to 31 August of each year. Figures are in thousands and rounded to the nearest hundred. Figures may not sum due to rounding.
	
		Table 2: Disability living allowance: numbers of new claims (i) decided and (ii) refused in Great Britain in each calendar year from 2002 to 2004.
		
			  Number of decisions on new claims Number of claims refused Claim refusal rate (percentage) 
		
		
			 2002 420,840 194,605 46 
			 2003 436,510 215,135 49 
			 2004 444,275 234,180 53 
		
	
	Note:
	Figures broken down by age or by Government Office Regions and counties are not available.
	Source:
	DWP Disability and Carers Service Management Information System (MIS) 100 per cent. data. Figures are rounded to the nearest 5 and are not comparable from those derived from the 5 per cent. sample data given in table 1.
	
		Table 3: Disability living allowance: numbers of reviews (i) registered and (ii) decided; and (iii) numbers of successful reviews in Great Britain in each calendar year from 2002 to 2004.
		
			  Number of reviews registered Reviews decided Successful reviews 
		
		
			 2002 266,695 267,655 122,450 
			 2003 258,930 258,030 117,375 
			 2004 (25)237,155 251,845 (25)107,165 
		
	
	(25) Figures for the number of reviews registered and successful reviews are for the period 1 January 2004 to 30 November 2004. Figures are not yet available for December 2004.
	Notes:
	1. Figures broken down by age or by Government Office Regions and counties are not available.
	2. Reviews may not be decided in the year they are registered. Hence, the figures shown for reviews decided and successful in each year are not comparable with the number of reviews registered in each year, and the number of unsuccessful review cannot be derived from those figures.
	Source:
	DWP Disability and carers service management information system (MIS) 100 per cent. data. Figures are rounded to the nearest 5 and are not comparable from those derived from the 5 per cent. sample data given in table 1.

Pensioners

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been paid to pensioners in Leeds West as a result of increases in the state pension since 1997.

Malcolm Wicks: The total extra basic state pension paid to pensioners in Leeds West as a result of above inflation increases in the state pension since 1997 (covering the years 1997–98 to 2004–05 inclusive) is £12.7 million, in 2004–05 prices.
	Notes
	1. Figures are calculated by comparing what would have happened if basic state pension had been increased in line with the Retail Prices Index since 1997 with what actually happened.
	2. Figures for Leeds West are derived using the overall share of Great Britain expenditure paid to pensioners living in Leeds West constituency, based on a 5 per cent. sample of retirement pension recipients, and subject to a degree of sampling error.
	3. Expenditure on state pensions will have risen for other reasons including a growing population, improved contributions records and the gradual maturing of past policy changes. These effects are not included in the figures as they would have occurred had 1997 policies been continued.
	4. Additional spending on the State Second Pension over the period, other than due to factors given under note 3 above, is negligible.
	5. The figures do not include additional spending on minimum income guarantee/pension credit, housing benefit, council tax benefit, winter fuel payments and other age-related payments, or Over 75 TV licences, that has also been paid to pensioners since 1997.

Alcohol-related Deaths

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the number of deaths caused by alcohol in each year since 1997, broken down by age and gender.

Stephen Timms: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked for him to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. Paul Burstow, dated 17 March 2005
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what estimate has been made of the number of deaths caused by alcohol in each year since 1997, broken down by age and gender. I am replying in his absence.
	The information requested is given in the reply to David Amess MP, Official Report 53, column 78W.

Broomfield Hospital

Alan Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many operations were performed at Broomfield hospital, Chelmsford, Essex in each year from 1990 to 2004.

Stephen Ladyman: Information is not collected by individual hospital. All operations for Mid Essex hospitals national health service trust, of which Broomfield hospital is a part, are shown in the table. Information prior to 1992–93 is not held centrally.
	
		
			  Mid Essex hospital services trust Mid Essex hospitals NHS trust 
		
		
			 1992–93 23,695 — 
			 1993–94 21,804 — 
			 1994–95 26,127 — 
			 1995–96 — 30,766 
			 1996–97 — 37,055 
			 1997–98 — 38,420 
			 1998–99 — 37,662 
			 1999–2000 — 36,733 
			 2000–01 — 36,781 
			 2001–02 — 39,459 
			 2002–03 — 42,888 
			 2003–04 — 43,219 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. All operations count of episodes—these figures represent a count of all finished consultant episodes (FCEs) where the procedure was mentioned in any of the 12 (four prior to 2002–03) operation fields in a hospital episode statistics (HES) record. A record is only included once in each count, even if an operation is mentioned in more than one operation field of the record.
	2. The main operation is the first recorded operation in the HES data set and is usually the most resource intensive procedure performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main operation when looking at admission details, e.g. time waited, but the figures for "all operations count of episodes" give a more complete count of episodes with an operation.
	3. Secondary procedure—as well as the main operative procedure, there are up to 11 (13 prior to 2002–03) secondary operation fields in HES that show secondary or additional procedures performed on the patient during the episode of care.
	4. Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).
	Source:
	HES, Department of Health.

Broomfield Hospital

Alan Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many in-patients were treated at Broomfield hospital, Chelmsford, Essex in each year from 1990 to 2004.

Stephen Ladyman: Information is not collected by individual hospital. The number of finished admission episodes for Mid Essex hospitals national health service trust, of which Broomfield hospital is a part, is shown in the table. Information prior to 1992–93 is not held centrally.
	
		
			  Mid Essex hospital services trust Mid Essex hospitals NHS trust 
		
		
			 1992–93 37,482 — 
			 1993–94 35,899 — 
			 1994–95 41,504 — 
			 1995–96 — 48.496 
			 1996–97 — 53,346 
			 1997–98 — 54,553 
			 1998–99 — 53,806 
			 1999–2000 — 52,605 
			 2000–01 — 53,999 
			 2001–02 — 57,569 
			 2002–03 — 61,131 
			 2003–04 — 64,447 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. A finished admission episode is the "first" period of on in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
	2. Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).
	Source:
	Hospital episode statistics, Department of Health.

Broomfield Hospital

Alan Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting times for patients undergoing cataract operations at Broomfield hospital, Chelmsford, Essex were in each year from 1990 to 2004.

Stephen Ladyman: Information is not collected by individual hospital. The number of days patients wait for cataract operations at Mid Essex hospitals national health service trust, of which Broomfield hospital is a part, for each year from 1992–93 to 2003–04 are shown in the table. Data prior to 1992 is not held centrally.
	
		
			  Median waiting time (days) 
		
		
			 1992–93 277 
			 1993–94 262 
			 1994–95 257 
			 1995–96 201 
			 1996–97 273 
			 1997–98 293 
			 1998–99 371 
			 1999–2000 349 
			 2000–01 332 
			 2001–02 328 
			 2002–03 333 
			 2003–04 218 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The main operation is the first recorded operation in the hospital episode statistics (HES) data set and is usually the most resource intensive procedure performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main operation when looking at admission details, e.g. time waited, but the figures for "all operations count of episodes" give a more complete count of episodes with an operation. Cataracts operations defined as 071,072,074,075 (OPCS4 Procedure).
	2. A finished in-year admission is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider, excluding admissions beginning before 1 April at the start of the data-year. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
	3. Time waited statistics from HES are not the same as the published waiting list statistics. HES provides counts and time waited for all patients admitted to hospital within a given period, whereas the published waiting list statistics count those waiting for treatment on a specific date and how long they have been on the waiting list. Also, HES calculates the time waited as the difference between the admission and decision to admit dates. Unlike published waiting list statistics, this is not adjusted for self-deferrals or periods of medical/social suspension.
	4. Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed)
	Source:
	HES, Department of Health.

Carers

Virginia Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  who the official responsible for the National Carers Strategy is;
	(2)  who is responsible for the Department's carers' website.

Stephen Ladyman: The policy management unit in the Department's older people's and disability division, which is part of the care services directorate, has ongoing responsibility for policy on carers. The Government actively supported the private members Bill last year that has now become the Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004. Departmental officials are currently working on the implementation of the Act and guidance. Young carers are the responsibility of the Department for Education and Skills.

GP List Sizes

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average general practitioner list size was in Greater London, broken down by primary care trust or health authority, in each of the last 10 years.

Stephen Ladyman: This information requested has been placed in the Library.

Mental Health

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children and young people aged under 18 years are suffering from a mental disorder, broken down by type of disorder.

Stephen Ladyman: In a survey of 10,000 children and adolescents by the Office for National Statistics (ONS)—"Mental Health of Children and Adolescents in Great Britain, ONS 2000—among five to 10-year-olds, 10 per cent. of boys and 6 per cent. of girls had a mental disorder. In the 11 to 15-year-old age group, the proportion of children with any type of mental disorder was 13 per cent. for boys and 10 per cent. for girls. Another report by the ONS—"Psychiatric Morbidity Among Adults in Private Households, ONS 2000"—gives prevalence rates for mental disorders among the 16 to 19 years age group.
	Prevalence rates for individual disorders are shown in the reports, which are available in the Library.

Neonatal Care

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding he made available to support (a) all neonatal care services and (b) neonatal intensive care services in each year since 1999–2000; and what funding will be made available in 2005–06.

Stephen Ladyman: Neonatal care services are provided through national health service general funding allocations. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health, recently announced an increase in the level of NHS general funding allocation to £135 billion for the financial years 2006–07 and 2007–08. The table shows additional funding for neonatal intensive care services. The additional revenue funding in 2004–05 is recurrent in 2005–06.
	
		Additional funding to improve neonatal intensive care services £ million
		
			  Funding 
			  Capital Revenue 
		
		
			 2000–01 6.5 5 
			 2001–02 — 5 
			 2002–03 — 5 
			 2003–04 20 12 
			 2004–05 — 20

Neonatal Care

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many managed clinical networks providing neonatal care there are in England; what the ratio is of nurses to infants in (a) neonatal special care units, (b) neonatal high dependency care units and (c) neonatal intensive care units for each clinical network; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: There are 25 neonatal managed clinical networks. Information on the ratio of nurses to infants within units is not collected centrally. The ratio is not constant, but relative to the criticality of the infants. This varies according to demand both within and between units providing a range of special, high dependency and intensive care. Research suggests that, in practice, the ratio of nurses to infants in special care is between one nurse to three and one nurse to four infants. In high dependency care, the ratio is in the order of one to two. In intensive care, the ratio is one to one and with some more specialised procedures, such as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, the ratio increases further.

NHS Direct

Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he plans to make changes in the status of NHS Direct.

Rosie Winterton: The NHS Direct special health authority is due to change its status as part of the Department's review of its arms length bodies.

NHS Prescriptions

Peter Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average cost per item prescribed was of prescriptions issued by (a) dispensing and (b) non-dispensing general practitioners in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 15 March 2005
	The average net ingredient cost per item of prescriptions issued by dispensing and non-dispensing doctors that were dispensed in the community in England in each year since 1998, is shown in the table.
	
		Average net ingredient cost per item £
		
			  Dispensing doctors Non-dispensing doctors 
		
		
			 1998 9.19 9.19 
			 1999 9.91 10.04 
			 2000 9.96 10.18 
			 2001 10.24 10.46 
			 2002 10.76 11.14 
			 2003 11.09 11.60 
		
	
	Note:
	Data for 1997 is unavailable.

Patients (Learning Disabilities)

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to improve the provision of health services for those with learning disabilities; and when he expects the targets for service improvements for adults with learning disabilities set out in the White Paper, "Valuing People", to be achieved.

Stephen Ladyman: The Government's objective is to enable people with learning disabilities to access a health service designed around their individual needs. The "Valuing People" (March 2001) White Paper included key actions on health and steps taken to achieve these; including the appointment of expert health advisers by the "Valuing People" support team.
	The health of people with learning disabilities should be part of mainstream health plans to ensure that all national health service services are accessible to everyone. The Public Health White Paper will address the issue of health inequalities. We are supporting the Disability Rights Commission's investigation into inequalities in access to health care services for people with learning disabilities and mental health service users. We are also discussing with the National Patient Safety Agency a scoping project into the confidential inquiry into premature deaths of people with learning disabilities. There will be an announcement shortly.
	We are improving access to primary care services through a new performance indicator in 2005–06 to monitor registration of people with learning disabilities by primary care trusts. In addition, the Healthcare Commission is raising the profile of services for people with learning disabilities through the appointment of a learning disability specialist. We are further supporting the health needs of learning disabled people through funding given to the voluntary sector.
	The "Valuing People" White Paper did not define targets; instead, it set out various actions and objectives. Many of the actions have been taken and the objectives achieved. Where work is in progress and the associated aims and objectives have not yet been achieved, we are working with the "Valuing People" support team to take remedial action to ensure their achievement in the near future.

Sikh Employees

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department's policy is on the wearing of the Kirpan by Sikh employees.

Rosie Winterton: The Department values the diversity of all its staff and has a policy to ensure that no member of staff will be discriminated on the grounds of their faith. Subject to health and safety considerations, Sikh employees of the Department can wear the Kirpan.

Deaf People (Public Service Delivery)

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he has taken in the last three years to ensure that deaf and hard of hearing people have equality of access to Government services.

John Spellar: Over the past three years significant work has been initiated or completed to improve communication between staff in Government Departments in Northern Ireland and people who are deaf or have a hearing impairment.
	Examples of steps taken across Departments are as follows:
	The formation of a partnership group whereby Departments, led by the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, are working in partnership with representatives of the deaf community to develop ideas for improving access to public services by users of sign language;
	Sign language interpreters are provided at public events;
	The issue of guidance in 2004 from the Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service to all Departments to ensure external events are fully accessible to people with disabilities;
	Departments have been delivering training in deaf awareness, sign language and in the use of text phones;
	The Department of Finance and Personnel is implementing a programme to ensure people with disabilities can have physical access and communication access to Government buildings. This includes the installation of Deaf Loop systems (at counter points, reception areas and designated rooms in all buildings with a public interface), Deaf Alerter systems for evacuation purposes, Beacons in toilet areas, Quematic systems in public offices, Signage and Text Phones;
	The Promoting Social Inclusion Working Group on Disability was established in 2004. This comprises members of Government Departments and those representing people with disabilities and is examining how services can be improved to better address the needs and rights of disabled people including those who are deaf or have a hearing impairment. This work includes conducting a major survey of people with disabilities across Northern Ireland during 2005.
	Examples of good practice within Departments are as follows:
	The Social Security Agency (SSA) is working in partnership with the Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID) on a pilot scheme which will identify possible improvements on services for customers with hearing impairments. Furthermore the SSA has given a commitment to work towards the RNID's "Louder than Words" Charter Mark of best practice;
	The Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency of the Department of the Environment makes extra time available to theory test candidates, if required;
	Trainees with a disability, including those who are deaf or have a hearing impairment, who enter Jobskills, are entitled to additional training time and funding to assist them in achieving their qualifications;
	The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has provided support under the PEACE II programme for a project which will provide training, support and networking for people who are deaf or have a hearing impairment;
	The College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise identifies students who are deaf or have a hearing impairment when they enrol. Each student with such a disability is assigned a personal tutor;
	The Department of Education in co-operation with the National Deaf Children's Society has issued two booklets, "Deaf Friendly Schools" and "Deaf Friendly Nurseries and Pre-schools", which provide a clear and friendly view of the context in which young deaf people's education takes place.
	All of the above are examples of the standards which Government have set and will continue to review and improve by working in partnership with organisations representing people who are deaf or hearing impaired and from disabled people themselves via consultation and the gathering of information.

Railways

David Trimble: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans the Government have for the old Comber railway line between Belfast and Comber; and if he will make a statement.

John Spellar: "The Old Comber railway line has been identified as a proposed cycle route in the Belfast Metropolitan Transport Plan 2015. This cycle route will form part of the National Cycle Network, which has been promoted by Sustrans, the sustainable transport charity as part of approximately 155 miles of cycle route proposed in the County Down area.
	The Belfast Metropolitan Transport Plan has also proposed the use of part of the former railway line for a pilot Rapid Transit scheme (known as Eway) on the portion of the line between Holywood Arches and Graham's Bridge Dundonald subject to economic appraisal, budgetary processes and the completion of statutory processes. It is proposed that cycle route facilities are provided in conjunction with the rapid transit scheme.
	DRD Roads Service has already provided lengths of cycle route along stretches of the old Comber railway line between King's Road and Holy wood Arches and has drawn up proposals to extend this route towards Dundonald during 2005–06"

Bullying

Huw Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will develop a strategy of zero tolerance of violence and intimidation directed at young people.

Derek Twigg: The Government already has a "zero tolerance" approach to violence in schools and takes this issue very seriously. We have made it clear that head teachers may permanently exclude pupils for violence even where this is a first offence. We are working to create a climate in which all violence is recognised as intolerable. To achieve that, we:
	are giving every secondary school access to high-quality behaviour management training materials and expert advice from behaviour management consultants;
	are providing extra support for schools facing the greatest challenges through our Behaviour Improvement Programme;
	have provided £120 million for school security improvements since 1997;
	have based over 300 police officers in schools;
	are developing specific violence prevention materials through our Violence Reduction in Schools project; and
	are consulting on new proposals on keeping knives out of schools, including searching suspect pupils.
	These measures will enable schools to tackle the problems that may lead to an escalation to violence and they will make schools even safer for children and staff.
	In the main schools are very safe places. Instances of violence are far less frequent than on the streets and in the home. Staff and pupils report fewer concerns about violence than in other European countries.

Diploma in Medicine

Peter Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how many students have enrolled for higher education courses in England leading to a diploma in medicine in (a) September and (b) February in each academic year since September 1998; and how many of each semester's cohort (i) started the second year of studies, (ii) started the third year of studies, (iii) qualified and (iv) registered;
	(2)  how many students have enrolled for courses leading to a diploma in nursing at (a) Luton university and (b) the university of Hertfordshire in each semester since September 1998; and how many from each semester's intake (i) started the second year, (ii) started the third year, (iii) qualified and (iv) registered.

Kim Howells: This information is not held centrally. The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) publish completion rates of students on full-time undergraduate courses in "Performance Indicators in Higher Education", but these are not calculated for individual subjects, or courses.

Individual Learning Accounts

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the current status is of Individual Learning Accounts; and when they will be re-introduced into England.

Ivan Lewis: The Individual Learning Account scheme was closed on 23 November 2001 after serious allegations of fraud.
	The Department is continuing investigations into learning providers that may have abused the Individual Learning Account scheme and is supporting the police in pursuing criminal proceedings against a number of learning providers. To date the police have been successful in cases involving 11 ILA learning providers, which have resulted in 11 individuals being convicted with a variety of prison and suspended sentences, community service and fines being imposed.
	Ministers decided, after careful examination of the lessons we must learn, not to introduce another stand alone Individual Learning Account scheme. Instead, we have integrated those ILA elements that proved successful within the broader skills strategy described in the White Paper, "21st Century Skills, Realising Our Potential" (Cmnd 5810), published in July 2003.

Office for Fair Access

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the milestones for admissions submitted to the Office for Fair Access by individual universities are.

Kim Howells: Details of all university access agreements that have been approved by the Office for Fair Access, including milestones, will be publicly available on the OFFA website (http://www.offa. org.uk) from Thursday 17 March.

Schools (Internet Security)

Richard Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures she has taken to ensure that schools implement security measures in respect of their use of the internet.

Derek Twigg: The Department for Education and Skills and with Becta (The British Educational Communications Agency) are committed to ensuring that schools have advice and information on internet safety, to help teachers make informed decisions about the technological and practical steps that they can take to keep their students safe.
	The Superhighway Safety website includes advice on all aspects of internet safety covering a number of key areas of concern such as e-mails for students, filtering systems, school websites and chat rooms. The guidance pack is online at http://safety.ngfl.gov.uk. Schools are advised to have an acceptable use policy signed by students and their parents, guardians or carers detailing the ways the internet can or cannot be used.

Self-harm

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what (a) training and (b) resources are available to educational professionals dealing with young people with experience of self-harm; and what definition of self-harm the Department uses.

Stephen Twigg: The school workforce can draw upon a range of training support in dealing with self-harm. The resources available centrally include the Department's 2001 guide "Promoting Children's Mental Health in Early Years and School Settings" which gives advice on how self-harm can be managed; and "Promoting emotional health and well-being through the National Healthy School Standard", jointly produced by the Departments of Health and Education and Skills, offers guidance and training modules on whole school approaches to supporting emotional well-being more generally. Every local education authority in England works in partnership with primary care trusts to manage and deliver a local healthy schools programme, supported by a local co-ordinator and education and health team.
	Further guidelines for education professionals will be available later this year when a national inquiry into self-harm reports. The Department uses the Inquiry's description of self-harm as encompassing
	"a wide range of things that people do to themselves, in a deliberate and usually hidden way, which are damaging."

Teachers

Linda Gilroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many full-time equivalent regular teachers there were in maintained schools in September 2004.

Stephen Twigg: Information on the numbers of teachers in service is collected in January of each year.
	Provisional teacher numbers for January 2005 will be published in April 2005.
	Figures for January 2004 were published in table 15 of the Statistics of Education, School Workforce in England, 2004 edition a copy of which has been placed in the House of Commons Library. Alternatively this publication is available at the following URL:
	http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DBA/OL/v00055 4/index.shtml

Correspondence

Alex Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he will reply to the letter dated 25 January from the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan regarding Darfur, reference: 1 85889/05.

Denis MacShane: My hon. Friend the Minister for Africa (Chris Mullin) replied directly to "Waging Peace" on 9 March and copied this reply to the hon. Member.

Kyrgyzstan

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment has been made of the legitimacy of the first round of parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: As I said in a press statement on 4 March 2005, I am encouraged to see that the parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan on 27 February were more competitive than previous elections, and that voting and the count on the day were a considerable improvement. But a number of significant shortcomings, particularly before election day, meant the elections still did not fully match up to international standards. A copy of the statement is available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website: www. fco.gov.uk/news/press-releases.
	The UK, like its EU partners, believes that freedom of expression is fundamental to the democratic process. The pressure exerted on the independent media and the late deregistration of some candidates, for example, restricted this freedom for the voters of Kyrgyzstan.
	Looking to the second round of parliamentary elections on 13 March 2005 and the presidential elections later this year, I urged the Kyrgyz authorities in my statement of 4 March to take these issues into account and seize the opportunity to set a strong example for the rest of Central Asia.

UK Embassies

Alex Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the cost of employing a commercial officer in each UK embassy in (a) the EU and (b) North America.

Denis MacShane: holding answer 15 March 2005
	The decision on which grades to employ at a post on commercial work and therefore the cost to be incurred is determined by the resources needed to meet UK trade and investment's (UKTI) trade development and inward investment objective. A commercial officer is not an Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) grade but a job description that can be applied to any of the UK based civil servants or locally engaged staff making up some 1,600 full-time staff equivalents across a wide range of grades and salary bands working on UKTI's objective at FCO posts overseas.

Magistrates Courts

Paul Tyler: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what criteria are used to calculate the cost-effectiveness of magistrates courts.

Christopher Leslie: Hitherto magistrates courts have been managed through 42 Magistrates Courts Committees (MCCs). The overall performance of MCCs is monitored through a range of financial and performance measures. The cost efficiency of the MCCs is measured through the "Cost per Unit of weighted Caseload". This measure is calculated by comparing total expenditure for each MCC with the total number of completed proceedings, the latter being weighted according a common set of assumptions of the relative complexity for 14 case types.